PODCAST · religion
Around the Fire
by Gene Maynard
The Trailhead will take you on a journey deep into spiritual formation country. It will retrieve the core ideas and practices that have, for centuries, helped hungry spiritual people and communities navigate the way into a deeper, more transformative life with God. genemaynard.substack.com
Episodes
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Around the Fire
Welcome to Around the Fire. I'm Gene Maynard — this is the podcast home of The Compass, a spiritual formation community on Substack. Pull up a chair. Something's been stirring in my heart about spiritual formation for the newly convinced followers of Jesus, and I’d like to share it with you. I...
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Around the Fire with Melissa Miller
There’s a chair for you here around the fire. I’ve invited a guest to pull a chair and join us: Melissa Miller. Melissa is a fellow author on Substack who writes, Steady As She Goes. I’m a subscriber and I always find something interesting, something that makes me think, and something that makes…
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Two Words That Describe What God Is Up to in Me
Around the Fire is an audio companion to The Compass, my Substack publication on contemplative Christian spiritual formation. Think of it this way: the weekly essays are the miles. This is the campfire at the end of the day that offers a few minutes to sit with something we’ve been carrying, go a...
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A View that Demands I Behold
Around the Fire is an audio companion to The Compass, my Substack publication on contemplative Christian spiritual formation. Think of it this way: the weekly essays are the miles. This is the campfire at the end of the day that offers a few minutes to sit with something we’ve been carrying, go a...
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Around the Fire
Around the Fire is the audio companion to The Compass, my Substack publication on contemplative Christian spiritual formation. Think of it this way: the weekly essays are the miles. This is the campfire at the end of the day that offers a few minutes to sit with something we’ve been carrying, go…
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Around the Fire
Around the Fire is a new audio companion to The Compass, my Substack publication on contemplative Christian spiritual formation. Think of it this way: the weekly essays are the miles. This is the campfire at the end of the day that offers a few minutes to sit with something we’ve been carrying…
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The Sound of Still Water
I don't usually post on weekends, but today asked for an exception. Lorri and I drove into Glacier today with no particular agenda—just following the road as it wound along Lake McDonald. We found ourselves at a pullout and instead of checking it off the list — been to the lake and moving on — we...
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When You Can't See Ahead
Yesterday's snowstorm became an unexpected spiritual director. As I walked through heavy snow with visibility down to almost nothing, I couldn't see the mountains I know are right in front of me. And in that moment of forced present-ness, I realized how much of my life I've spent living in the...
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Writing Our Way Home: A Conversation with Jeanine Joyner
Substack writer Jeanine Joyner has a rare gift. Through her publication “Beloved, Be Loved,” she weaves storytelling and spiritual reflection in ways that invite you into the heart of what it means to be God’s beloved. A former women’s ministry leader, Jeanine now uses her writing to help readers...
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Becoming Who You Are
Listen Time: 7:35 minutes About This Episode In the wilderness, Jesus faced a fundamental test: Would he perform to meet expectations, or remain anchored in who he truly was? This Stillpoint meditation explores three moments when Jesus refused to twist himself into what others wanted—and invites...
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When Shepherds Limp
Episode Description: Seventy-five percent of pastors report extreme stress. One in three has considered quitting in the last year. Nearly one in five has contemplated suicide. How did we get here? This podcast examines both the crisis facing pastors and its root causes—tracing how the American...
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Quiet Outside, Noise Inside
Theme: Quiet outside, noise insideScripture: Luke 10:38–42; Practice: Breath prayer — “Lord Jesus / quiet my noisy heart.”One Question: Where is your inner speed exceeding the speed of your surroundings? If you’re new: I’m writing and podcasting about attention, spiritual depth, and a simpler,...
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Roots
Show Notes In this short reflection, Gene turns to the underground life—the roots that hold when weather changes. We chase branches and fruit; Jesus starts deeper. Roots form in hidden places: quiet, Scripture that’s actually ingested, Sabbath that teaches us to receive. Depth before display.…
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Quaker Midnight
Show NotesIn this short reflection, Gene shares a lesson he first learned from Quaker writer Elton Trueblood—what he called Quaker midnight. It’s a simple but radical reordering of time: beginning each day in rest rather than work. This rhythm of rest is more than recovery; it’s the starting…
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Pausing to Listen
The StillpointA brief pause in the middle of your day to be still… and to remember that—whatever today holds—God is with you. The Stillpoint is an audio companion of The Compass, which provides resources, encouragement, and community to help you find and navigate the way to a deeper life with...
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Light That Cannot Be Overcome
The StillpointA brief pause in the middle of your day to be still… and to remember that—whatever today holds—God is with you. The Stillpoint is an audio companion of The Compass, which provides resources, encouragement, and community to help you find and navigate the way to a deeper life with...
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The Trailhead: When Christianity Forgot Discipleship
An audio podcast for The Compass Center exploring the discipleship deficit in contemporary Christianity and how to restore discipleship to where it belongs: the very center of Christian faith. This is part one of a week-long series on discipleship. Subscribe so you get every one of these...
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What If Worship Is Bigger than We Think?
What if worship is bigger than we imagine?What if it is larger than what we are used to experiencing?What if what we call worship is actually smaller than what worship truly is? In this episode of The Trailhead, we step into the experience of Isaiah and the witness of John Woolman to ask a deeper...
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Trusting the Lord (Even When I Don’t)
This week on Substack I’m writing and thinking about scripture. I’m doing that to tether Christian spiritual formation—at least the way I view spiritual formatio—is tethered to scripture. Today’s conversation is a story, a testimony, a lament, and a blessing all in one about the beauty of taking...
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The Trailhead: The Shepherd Who Knows Your Voice
In this short, guided time of stillness, we reflect on the words of Jesus in John 10:27: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Long before you thought to seek God, the Shepherd was already seeking you.Today’s Presence invites you to rest in the reality that you are fully...
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The Trailhead
After a short break from the podcast, I’m beginning something new here on The Compass podcast feed. This new rhythm, called Presence, is a short, guided time to help you pause, listen, and renew your awareness of God’s nearness in the middle of an ordinary day. Each episode draws from the ancient...
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A Quiet Moment of Mercy
In today’s Formation Dig, we begin laying the foundation for next week’s series on Being the Beloved. At the center of that identity is this truth: you don’t earn belovedness—you receive it.We explore the parable of two men in the temple, a posture of humility, and the mercy that anchors us…
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The Practice of Choosing Joy
In this episode, we explore joy not as a fleeting emotion but as a deep, deliberate practice. Drawing from the wisdom of Henri Nouwen, we consider his profound insight: “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” What does it mean to choose joy in a...
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Joy: What If We've Misunderstood the Word All Along?
What if we’ve misunderstood joy—not just as a culture, but even as the church? What if joy isn’t the reward for a life finally in order, but the defiant practice of those choosing trust in the middle of the mess? In this short reflection, we’ll explore how joy might be less about emotion and more...
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Holding Space for Joy
About This Episode:Joy isn’t something we chase—it’s something we wake up to. In this first episode of Formation Digs, we explore how spiritual practice helps us hold space for the soul to notice God—even in the middle of ordinary life. Joy often begins when we stop rushing, pay attention, and…
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Trust When the Answers Are Slow
What happens when trust stops being a spiritual concept—and starts becoming your daily lifeline? In this Formation Dig, we explore what it means to trust God when life doesn’t resolve on schedule. No tidy answers. No spiritual shortcuts. Just real life, real waiting, and real hope. Along the way,...
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Bible Dig: 2 Corinthians 3:18
In this short reflection, we explore 2 Corinthians 3:18 and the practice of contemplative seeing.Paul uses the word katoptrizomenoi—“to behold as in a mirror”—reminding us that spiritual transformation happens when we set our attention fully on Christ. Key Takeaways: * We become what we behold. *...
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What We Contemplate, We Become
In this episode of Formation Digs, I’m sharing a personal story from the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage—a moment that revealed more than just a stumble on the trail. It exposed a deeper spiritual issue: I had become—we’ve become people—someone who walked while reading, led while distracted, and...
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Want In? Why We Need Guides Like Brother Lawrence—Now More Than Ever
What if 88% of the people in your church were still in the earliest stages of spiritual growth? That’s what recent research tells us. And yet—there’s hope. Because while spiritual maturity is stalled, spiritual hunger is rising. People are longing for depth. The question is: who will help guide...
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What If Sabbath Was for the Wounded?
7 minutes | Hosted by Gene Maynard Intro (Show Notes Preview):Welcome to Formation Dig, a few quiet minutes each week to excavate the deeper layers of faith. In today’s episode, I’m reflecting on two practices that have been quietly shaping me: gathered worship and slow-motion Sabbath. These may...
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Formation Dig: The Granite Bench You Never Noticed
Welcome to today’s Formation Dig. I want to tell you a story—one that starts on a rugged mountain trail and ends with a hidden bench carved by time. I’d passed it dozens of times without seeing it. But the moment I noticed it, everything changed. That bench? It became a picture of what spiritual...
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Formation Dig: Roller Coasters, Quiet Companions, and the Heart of Spiritual Direction
What can a rickety wooden roller coaster teach us about the sacred work of spiritual direction? In this episode, I share a story from years ago—when a challenge from my sons, a belly full of junk food, and one unexpected seat partner led to a moment I’ve never forgotten. Through it, I discovered...
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🎙️ Formation Dig: The Quiet Work That Changed My Life
“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”—Matthew 11:28 In this 15-minute Formation Dig, Gene shares a personal reflection on the practice of spiritual direction—how it changed his life, what it really is (and isn’t), and why this quiet work may be one of the…
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Speaking Truth in Love
It’s one thing to believe the truth. It’s another to let it reshape your life. In today’s formation dig, we explore what happens when truth moves from belief to embodiment—from something we know to something we live. The Spirit doesn’t just inform us. He walks the road with us. Call to Action:📖...
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Becoming a Truth-Taster
Show Notes Intro:In a culture that rewards noise and spin, the Spirit invites us into something quieter, richer, and far more satisfying—truth you can taste. In today’s reflection, we begin to recover our appetite for what’s truly real. This isn’t just about believing the right things—it’s about...
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Spirit, Be My Guide
In today’s Formation Dig, we return to one powerful verse—John 16:13—and sit with Jesus’ words about the Spirit of Truth.This isn’t just a verse to understand. It’s a doorway into something deeper.If you’ve ever felt pulled between what’s real and what’s performative, today’s reflection is for…
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The Intimate and Organic Life
This short 7-minute reflection centers on Jesus’ invitation in John 15: “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you.” In a world of noise, drift, and distraction, what does it look like to remain? To stay close? To let the dust of the Rabbi mark your life again—not just on Sunday, but...
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🔵Getting Off the Wrong Train
Inspired by Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s now-famous line—“If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction”—this Formation Dig invites us to reflect on the subtle compromises we sometimes make. What trains have we boarded that Jesus never invited us onto? And...
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Walking in the Dust of the Rabbi
What did it really mean to follow a rabbi in the first century? This Formation Dig explores what discipleship looked like in Jesus' world—and why it still matters for us today. We’re not called to just learn about Jesus. We’re called to walk closely behind Him. Close enough to be covered in His...
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Formation Dig: Where Else Would We Go?
🎧 Formation Dig: “Will You Leave Too?”Text: John 6:66–68 After a hard teaching, many walked away from Jesus. And then he turned to the Twelve with a question that still pierces today:“Do you also want to leave?” Peter’s reply?“Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life.” In...
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Formation Digs: The Spirit of Truth
🎧 Formation Digs | The Spirit of Truth (John 16:13)In today’s Formation Dig, we reflect on Jesus’ promise that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth—not just to inform us, but to form us. In a world of noise, distortion, and pressure to conform, how do we listen for the Spirit’s voice and...
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Formation Dig: Sabbath for the Whole Household
🔵 Formation Dig: Sabbath for the Whole HouseholdExodus 20:10 – “But the seventh day is a sabbath... On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter...” The Sabbath command wasn’t just about rest—it was a radical act of liberation. In a world that ran on nonstop labor, God...
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Bible Dig: Proverbs 22:6
🟢 Bible Dig: Train Up a Child…Proverbs 22:6 – “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” We often quote this verse like it’s a formula. But Proverbs are not formulas—they’re invitations to wisdom. Today’s 10 minute Bible Dig explores what this...
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Bible Dig: Luke 10:38-42
🟢 About This Bible DigIn today’s reflection, we step into the home of Martha and Mary in Luke 10—and into the tension between distraction and presence. Jesus' gentle words to Martha still speak to our overextended lives: “You are worried about many things… but only one thing is needed.”This…
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A Family Rule of Life
In this Formation Dig, we reflect on Deuteronomy 6 and what it means to cultivate a quiet, intentional family rhythm of faith. Every household already has a rule of life—even if it’s unspoken. This short episode invites you to notice the habits, phrases, and patterns shaping your home—and…
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📖 Bible Dig – Matthew 18:3
"Unless you change and become like little children…" There’s something Jesus wants us to unlearn—some posture of self-sufficiency or performance that stands in the way of deeper life with God. In this brief centering Bible Dig, we reflect on Matthew 18:3 and the surprising strength of childlike...
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Spiritual Formation Dig: A Sabbath Time
📩 Subscribe & Share: The Gift of Sabbath If this reflection helped you reimagine Sabbath as more than rest—as resistance, as renewal—would you share it? 🕯️ Subscribe to receive two short formation Digs each week—gentle invitations to live more rooted, more awake.🌿 Share this with someone who...
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Bible Dig: Why Slowing Down Feels So Awkward
🛑 Why Does Slowing Down Feel So Strange?If today’s Bible Dig helped you name the awkwardness—and still take a breath—would you help spread that grace? 📩 Subscribe to receive three Bible Digs each week—short, Scripture-centered reflections to re-center your soul. 🔗 Share this episode with…
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Spiritual Formation Dig: Relearning Silence
💬 Want more like this? Every Tuesday and Thursday, The Trailhead offers short, reflective practices to help you slow down, listen well, and live deeply. If today’s Dig helped you recalibrate, consider becoming a paid subscriber to support this work—and receive weekly tools for your own spiritual...
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Bible Dig: When Fast Becomes Fragile
🙏 Enjoying Bible Digs?If this short reflection helped re-center your day, would you consider two simple ways to support it? 1️⃣ Subscribe to get each Dig delivered to your inbox—three times a week, always free. 2️⃣ Share it with a friend who might need a quiet, grounding word today. This is a...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
The Trailhead will take you on a journey deep into spiritual formation country. It will retrieve the core ideas and practices that have, for centuries, helped hungry spiritual people and communities navigate the way into a deeper, more transformative life with God.
genemaynard.substack.com
HOSTED BY
Gene Maynard
CATEGORIES
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Around the Fire have?
Around the Fire currently has 214 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Around the Fire about?
The Trailhead will take you on a journey deep into spiritual formation country. It will retrieve the core ideas and practices that have, for centuries, helped hungry spiritual people and communities navigate the way into a deeper, more transformative life with God. genemaynard.substack.com
How often does Around the Fire release new episodes?
Around the Fire publishes regularly with 214 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
Where can I listen to Around the Fire?
You can listen to Around the Fire on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Around the Fire?
Around the Fire is created and hosted by Gene Maynard.
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