Helping Others Restore Personal Worship & Connection with God | An Interview with John Eldredge

John Eldredge is a bestselling author and counselor. He is also president of Wild at Heart, a ministry devoted to helping people discover the heart of God and recover their own hearts in God’s love. John and his wife, Stasi, live near Colorado Springs, Colorado. Highlights 2:00 Introduction and updates with Wild at Heart. 4:30 We are now in the after effects of the pandemic. How do we recover? 6:00 One of the after effects of the pandemic is that many people are walking away from traditional religion. They are going to other places to try and find relief. They are walking away from the source of their rescue and recovery. 8:50 The Edens in our life. The things that we long for. Instead of finding replenishment in God we go on vacations, we scroll our phones, etc. to find relief. 10:00 We are dealing with the traumatic aftermath of the pandemic. John explains how it has changed us and our ability to deal with everyday life. The classic trauma symptoms are: Mental fragmentation A loss of a sense of time The exhaustion The lack of grace for irritating people 12:30 We are struggling to go to church after the pandemic. We are exhausted, dealing with trauma, and our reserves are gone. 15:20 Advice for leaders trying to help people find Jesus in their Sunday meetings. You design opportunities for quiet and prayer. You don’t have to fill every moment. 21:00 Spiritual warfare creeps in. It’s not always a big, traumatic event. The adversary wants us to give up on God. 23:20 Notice how you react when someone gets in the way of your “Eden agenda.” 25:10 How leaders can help people reconnect with God. We need to recast the vision. 28:30 Kurt shares his own personal experience of connecting to God in a new way. His running routine has become a spiritual experience. 29:45 Nature heals as opposed to technology. First thing in the morning don’t look at your phone or listen to the news. Give a quiet moment to God. 31:00 John unpacks the meaning of the shallows, the midlands, and the depths. 35:20 How do we get our hearts out of the shallows? We begin by loving God and expressing gratitude. If we expect results and fixes from God then we are just going to be frustrated and disappointed. 38:00 How do we love God? It’s more of just keeping the commandments. 41:15 Written prayers can help us articulate things in a way that maybe we couldn’t do on our own. 44:00 John talks about his app called One Minute Pause. 46:50 The pressure of leadership is having to come through for people. They don’t need you. They need God. You are there to help them get to God. 48:15 Invite people to be a part of the larger story that God has for them. God’s story puts everything into perspective. Human beings use stories to make sense of reality. Links Resilient: Restoring Your Weary Soul in These Turbulent TimesWild at HeartWild at Heart PodcastOne Minute Pause AppReconnecting with God as a Distracted Church Leader | An Interview with John Eldredge TRANSCRIPT coming soonGet 14-day access to the Core Leader Library The Leading Saints Podcast gets over 300,000 listens each month and has nearly 10 million total downloads as part of nonprofit Leading Saints’ mission to help latter-day saints be better prepared to lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, J. Devn Cornish, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, DeAnna Murphy, Michael Goodman, Richard Ostler and many more in over 500 episodes. Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.