Episode 156 :: Kathryn Maack :: Stories of Living and Relating to God and Others with Our Whole Self
Release Date: 06/16/2023
Episode 174 :: Douglas McKelvey :: Stories of Leaning into Advent, Lament, and Living with Every Moment Holy
Simply Stories Podcast
Today, I have the absolute pleasure of sharing my conversation with the one and only Douglas McKelvey. Douglas is a songwriter, author, and liturgy writer extraordinaire. I have never met someone like Douglas. His gift with words and passion for Christ cultivates a visceral invitation to be more present in this life, to find your fight again as you walk this weary way, and speaks to our hope of the next life with Jesus. Douglas shares with me his story of what led him to Nashville, TN, his journey from songwriting to fiction writing and the idea of unpacking his belief that every moment...
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Episode 173 :: Carole Holiday :: Stories of Learning Who You Are Again After Loss and Living with Grief
Simply Stories Podcast
A self-proclaimed “accidental author”, Carole Holiday was living a very full life as a wife, mother, and nana, until one day, everything fell apart. Her marriage to her childhood sweetheart of over 35 years ended, followed by losing her job and ultimately filing for bankruptcy. Then she developed heart issues because of all the stress, and a continued windfall of loss, and grief in losing close loved ones, until it felt like there was absolutely nothing recognizable about the life she had known. In her book I Don’t Know Who I Am Anymore, Carole shares her story, but it...
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Episode 172 :: Mike Nappa :: Stories from the Valley of the Shadow, and Blessing Those Who Mourn
Simply Stories Podcast
Over the last several years, I don’t think there is anyone who has not been touched by loss or some kind of grief. Today's guest, author, and literary agent Mike Nappa is incredibly familiar with loss and living with grief. In 2016, he lost his beloved wife, Amy, to cancer. In his learning how to live life without her, God has shown him why grieving is such an important part of losing a loved one. As Mike says, he learned how to cry into his keyboard and produced one of the most poignant books that bears witness to grief that I have ever personally encountered. It is called ...
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Episode 171 :: Gary Miracle :: Stories of Taking Heart, Persevering in Suffering, and No More Bad Days
Simply Stories Podcast
Gary Miracle is an author and a speaker who passionately believes in the power of storytelling and how it unites us and spurs us on when life is tragically hard, and also reminds us who we are and who God made us to be. In this episode, he shares his story of growing immersed in church culture on Sunday but then suffered from an identity crisis the rest of the week as he chased perfection, and changed personas in order to be affirmed by anyone and everyone. Finally, later in his life and career, now a married man with kids, Gary reached his breaking point and reached out to his friend Bart...
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Episode 170 :: Justin & J.L. Gerhardt:: Stories of Encountering God at the Intersection of Story and Worship
Simply Stories Podcast
Justin and J.L. Gerhardt are on the podcast today, and you will love hearing from them! There is an epic retelling of their meeting and falling in love complete with 90’s Hearthrob meet cute and all. More than that, Justin and J.L. share about their journey of God leading them both into ministry with words, calling their family to travel the world, and unleashing their creativity and courage to press into new ways to encounter God and His Word. This journey has given birth to various creative outlets for the Gerhardt family, but the one we talk about the most in this episode is Justin’s...
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Episode 169 :: Nikki Anders :: Stories of The Journey to Bethlehem
Simply Stories Podcast
I am so excited to share with you a really special conversation with the incredibly talented Renaissance woman Nikki Anders. Nikki is an award-winning musician, songwriter, and music producer in the TV and film industry. She shares some of her experiences in the music industry as a solo artist and member of the music group Avalon, her and her husband Adam’s time working on “Glee” as well as many other films, and now are the creative team behind the new movie musical “The Journey to Bethlehem.” Nikki shares how the Lord closed and opened so many doors over the last seventeen...
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Episode 168 :: Travis Thompson :: Stories of Mental Health, Addiction, Faith and Healing
Simply Stories Podcast
Travis Thompson is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who practices in Middle Tennessee. He is a PhD candidate who works with clients from many backgrounds to find the deeper meaning of their struggles and embrace long-term recovery from the pains that they experienced. His work is focused on being healed from past hurt and toward future success. During our conversation, Travis shares his journey of wrestling with his own mental health as a teenager, his recovery and healing journey, and entering the world of becoming a mental health professional serving and helping others like...
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Episode 167 :: Kelly Balarie :: Stories of The Power of God’s Word and Taking Every Thought Captive
Simply Stories Podcast
I have a powerhouse on the podcast in the form of Kelly Balarie. Kelly is an author and a speaker who is passionate about Jesus and the Word of God. She is a sister in the trenches and a self-proclaimed spiritual cheerleader. Every book she has written, she writes from a place of “this is where God has been faithful to me in this season.” Or “this is what God has been teaching me,” full of authenticity, and powerful scripture-saturated insights for women who desire to walk well and be filled to the fullness of God. In our conversation today, you’ll hear about her...
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Episode 166 :: Dr. Clarence Shuler :: Stories of Finding Hope in Dark Places and Cross-Cultural Relationships that Can Heal
Simply Stories Podcast
Dr. Clarence Shuler is the President and CEO of his nonprofit BLR- which stands for Building Lasting Relationships. Their mission is to equip others for discipleship in various venues. He and his wife both speak and write about marriage, but also dealing with infidelity, and divorce, but they especially love to minister to singles in the church. Whatever it looks like, the Shulers are committed to “loving people with God’s love with no agenda and see what happens.” During our conversation today, Dr. Shuler shared his story of coming to Christ through a relationship that would impact...
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Episode 165 ::Kayla Craig :: Stories of Curiosity & Questions in Faith & Holding Every Season Sacred
Simply Stories Podcast
Today I have the absolute joy of sharing with you my conversation with Kayla Craig. Kayla is a modern liturgist as the woman behind Liturgies for Parents online. She is a Mama of 4, a supportive pastor’s wife, and just this week she released her second book Every Season Sacred. In our conversation today, you’ll get to hear Kayla’s heart as she shares about what it looks like to pursue an honest and abundant life full of wonder and work. In all the spaces she occupies, she offers an open invitation to be curious, to express our questions, doubts, or confusion as we walk out our faith...
info_outline Today, I get to share my conversation with minister and author Kathryn Maack. Kathryn shares her seemingly accidental, but God-ordained road into vocational ministry. God began to reveal Himself to her in ways that helped her to process how we as Believers approach the Lord, and that there can be a segregation that happens within ourselves in how to we relate to the Lord or even are willing to learn about Him or worship Him. Whether that be disconnect between our head and heart, Spirit and the Truth, there is much that can be disrupted and disjointed due to pain, our experiences, or perhaps even half truths we’ve come to believe as the whole truth. She dives into this topic in the book she coauthored with ministry partner Aaron Williams Whole: The Life-Changing Power of Relating to God with All of Yourself. When the Lord made us, He did not make us in segmented pieces, but as a whole person. Kathryn and Aaron want to remind us that Jesus wants to make us holy and whole and He wants us to live out the identity He created us to have.
if you are struggling in your own story because it is just… loud. Too much yelling, too much fighting, too many confusing narratives, I want you to hear me say that the Lord is with you. He is the God of peace, and a God of justice and mercy. He will not leave you here.
If you are struggling in your story because it is just too quiet, and you feel like God is too far and you don’t know what to make of what you see, feel or what you’ve seen, I want you to hear me say that the Lord is also with you. He has a history that suggests that even when it seems like He is absent, He is anything but. He never leaves us or forsakes us and rejoices over us with loud singing. He listens to lament, He can take our questions, and He will not leave you here.
No matter you are, I hope you know that you matter, and your story matters. Thanks for hanging out with me and I’ll see you next time.
Connecting with Kathryn:
Kathryn and Aaron’s book: Whole: The Life-Changing Power of Relating to God with All of Yourself
Connecting with Dwellings:
Sponsor for this Episode: Hopefuel
Use the code 'SIMPLY15' for 15% off
References:
Dwellings is a ministry that helps ordinary people cultivate kingdom communities, typically in small groups or house churches
Ancient Jewish perspective on the heart being one
“Walk Down This Mountain” - Bebo Norman
The Jesus movement in the 60’s-70’s
Barna study about Gen Z not being in the church
“Rattle” - Elevation Worship
“Sanctified”- Mercy Me - “We worship with the sound of broken shackles falling to the ground.”
Priscilla Shirer- Armor of God study
The power is in the name of Jesus
Scripture References:
Mark 12:30-31- Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul and strength
John 4:23- true worshippers come to Jesus in Spirit and Truth
Jeremiah 17:9- The heart is deceitful above all else
John 11:38-44 Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-18; John 2:13-22,Mark 3:5) Matthew 14:14; 15:32, Matthew 9:36, Matthew 4:1-11,Mark 1:12-13,Luke 4:1-13, Hebrews 4:15- Jesus came and displayed emotions but never sinned
Matthew 22:34-40-This is the first and greatest commandment
Galatians 5:22- The fruit of the spirit is joy
Psalm 34:8- Taste and see that the Lord is good
Ephesians 1:18- The Spirit enlivens the eyes of the heart
John 5:39- You search the scriptures and you want to find Me, but you don’t know Me
Exodus 34:29-35-Moses shining with God glory’s off the mountain
Exodus 32- Moses catching the people in a hot mess
Exodus 34- Moses comes back with the Law again
John 16:13- The Holy Spirit guides us into all Truth
John 16:8- The Holy Spirit convicts us
John 14:25-26, 1 Corinthians 2:9-14 -The Holy Spirit helps us discern scripture
Psalm 28:7, Psalm 121- He is our help
Ezekiel 37:1-14- God calls the bones to life
2 Corinthians 3:17- There is Someone who wants you to be free
John 8:36, Galatians 5:1, Isaiah 28:16- Christ is the cornerstone
Ephesians 6:17-The sword of the Spirit is the word of God
Ephesians 6:12- We are not at war with flesh and blood
1 Thessalonians 5:23- Jesus wants to make us holy and whole and He wants us to live out the identity He created us to have.
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