This Journey We're On

Show Notes: 0:00- Intro 1:30- Bruce is back!!! 2:10- Paul's preview 4:06- Bruce' preview 6:12- Paul on the tension required when considering this topic from a contemplative viewpoint 7:53- Bruce on how we struggle to believe WHO WE ARE 12:38- Bruce on how we get stuck in our spiritual growth 14:21- Paul on how he's experienced spiritual success and on how Jesus describes our ultimate goal. (This is Paul's favorite passage in all of scripture). 17:10- Bruce on KNOWING God 19:39- Paul on how we can look beyond the symptoms of brokenness and have deeper compassion for both ourselves and others. 23:16- Bruce on what happens when God "adopts" us 26:37- Paul on why we should cheer each other on as we are walking each other home 29:33- Bruce tells a beautiful story : ) 33:23- Bruce pops the hood on much of our brokenness 38:11- Paul on some of the reasons we "play small" 39:54- Bruce on what lies on the other side of our fear and embracing our true identity 44:36- Paul on how he has battled fear and struggled with OCD 47:50- Bruce on the verse lyrics 50:49- Paul's prayer for people listening to this podcast 52:24- Paul on how our spiritual journey is like ascending a spiral staircase 57:00- Bruce' final thoughts 59:12- Paul's final words

*Mental Health Disclaimer- The ideas expressed are solely those on the podcast and should not be viewed as psychological advice or therapy. You should consult your mental health specialist regarding applying the issues discussed in the podcast to your personal life. Show Notes: 0:00- Intro 1:50- Start of conversation 3:13- Steve shares his story 6:59- Paul on how suffering can be grace 8:26- Steve on gratitude 11:45- Steve talks about the importance of play! 15:30- Paul talks about the story behind "The Curse is Broken" 19:13- Steve talks about being healed "from the inside out" 21:41- Paul on his parent's divorce 22:22- Steve talks about how we heal 23:50- Paul talks about the healing he's received from being a people pleaser 25:05- Steve talks more about being set free from being a people pleaser 27:05- Paul on shame and self-forgiveness 30:09- Steve on shame and legalism 33:43- Steve on how childhood trauma can carry into marriage and how to counter it 35:31- Paul on how being a people pleaser never helps in marriage 36:50- Steve talks about prevalent issues in marriage 39:42- Paul on how healing is both instantaneous and a life-long process 42:02- Steve talks more about the process of healing 43:51- Paul on how his relationship with Jesus was healed 46:01- Steve on the true antidote for fear 50:44- Paul on the power of the present moment 51:40- Paul and Steve on the confidence they possess and maintain even in the face of death 56:28- Conclusion 58:12- Live acoustic performance of "The Curse is Broken"

Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro + Welcome 2:05 - Paul and Rand friendship eval 3:12 - Paul introduces Rand and his word of the year 4:27 - Rand on biblical freedom 7:00 – Paul on how he's learned about freedom from Rand 8:08 – Rand on "freedom from" 9:33 – Paul on how substances seek to provide the freedom we're looking for 10:40 – Rand on addiction 12:27 – Paul on addiction and freedom from self 13:17 – Rand on why so many people are unhappy 90% of the time 15:54 – Paul on why we think about ourselves so often 16:33 – More from Rand on all things freedom 18:44 – Rand on the topic of shame 20:10 – Paul talks about the ego and being one with both God and man 26:07 – Rand exposes how we treat others because of fear in our lives 28:25 – Paul on how we are constantly measuring each other up and how to see people beyond their job desciption 33:41 – Paul tells the story behind "No More Strings" and how he found healing 41:03 – Rand talks about how we can be set free from the judgement of others 42:53 – Rand on jealousy and envy 45:00 – Paul on how to view those who judge you 45:33 – Rand on how to be set free from defending yourself 47:49 – Paul talks about how we can be set free from the lie "I am what other people think about me." 52:24 – Closing thoughts 54:29 – Acoustic performance of "No More Strings" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Key "Rand-isms" from the show... "Addiction is an ever-increasing desire for something that has an ever-decreasing ability to satisfy."  "90% of the time we're unhappy with ourselves because 90% of the time we think about ourselves."   "The most powerful person in the room is the one who can love every single other person in the room." "If you live by the praises of man, you'll die by their criticism. You'll be a prisoner of approval." "Do you want to feel better or do you want to get better?" "The truth only hurts when you're not living in it."

Show Notes: 0:00 - Intro + Welcome 3:19 - The reason why many of my friends have left the Christian faith 4:00 - How salvation is often described 5:08 - Anger is one of the attributes which unfortunately gets associated with God 6:00 - Broken dinner party analogy 7:45 - "And they think that's what God is like." 8:15 - Bruce's response 11:55 - The problem of evil 14:07 - Dying to yourself grants access to everything you've ever wanted 14:34 - Bruce on the topic of agency regarding salvation 16:50 - How Jesus set about to defeat evil his entire ministry, not just on the cross 21:00 - "Something much bigger is going on here."  21:58 - God is in the know when it comes to the bigger picture 22:15 - The importance of humility in this topic 23:08 - Bruce on "The Big Picture"  24:27 - Paul on the heart of God in Jesus 26:12 - Bruce on proper attitude regarding salvation 29:38 - Bruce on what "the wrath of God" actually means.  31:10 - "What we think about God is the biggest question we can ask in life." 31:15 - From what or from whom are we being saved? 32:57 - One of the problems with the topic of salvation is it becomes so individualized 34:00 - Salvation gives us purpose for the here and now 35:35 - "We've forgotten the bigger story from the beginning of the Bible until the end." 37:00 - God's helping us get out of the mess we got ourselves into 37:52 - "Don't be so quick to blame God in this equation." 40:40 - This was never "Plan B" 41:05 - Closing thoughts from Paul 42:28 - Acoustic performance of "Save Me"  

0:00 - Intro 1:24 - Welcome/Opening thoughts on the song "This Journey We're On" 5:10 - Bruce's reply on healthy balance 6:40 - How the Bible has more flexibility than we may realize 11:56 - Scripture is like a jewel that can be studied and admired from various angles 14:33 - The healthy middle way 18:04 - Paul on navigating the current section of his journey with cancer 22:51 - Practicing presence along the journey 24:35 - Paul talks about the chorus of the song 27:08 - Our spirits find refuge in the inner sanctuary 28:00 - You're allowed to enjoy this life! 30:25 - Bruce on how to remain engaged and present in life when tempted to check out 33:34 - Paul on the interconnectedness of humanity 35:09 - Bruce on how we should characterize what we call "the world" 37:20 - Trust is a relational idea 39:40 - Paul's closing thoughts 40:39 - Acoustic performance of "This Journey We're On."

In this episode Bruce and I discuss the themes behind my song "Hidden." Show Notes: 0:00- Intro 1:24- Welcome/Intention 2:50- Bruce on the balance between our head and our heart 3:42- Paul's thoughts on the song "Hidden" 4:34- Love is what took the fear of death away 6:00- Paul on the recent return of cancer 8:52- Bruce's response 9:51- Paul on how suffering helps us surrender control 12:06- Bruce on how suffering can produce the greatest good 14:38- Paul on "The Good News" 17:03- Bruce on unity between the body of Christ  18:46- The ancient view of physiology (breath is a nutrient!) 21:28- Paul talks about how Bruce is such a beautiful balance of head and heart 22:17- Different cultures gravitate towards various means to discover God 23:23- We all listen to music in different ways 24:54- Sometimes one element needs more attention to reach a proper balance 26:20- Bruce on the resurrection power within us 28:35- Paul's greatest hope 31:37- Bruce on not denying reality 33:16- Paul on not creating God in our image 34:34- Closing thoughts 35:15- Live performance of "Hidden"  

Show Notes: 0:01- Welcome/Intro 1:34- Paul introduces Bruce Lowe 3:23- Bruce's intro 5:43- Paul's hospital story 8:45- Bruce and Paul talk about peace in the midst of suffering 11:01- Bruce and Paul talk about God's name "I Am" 11:55- Bruce on God's presence in the person of Jesus 14:13- Paul on how we all share life's biggest questions 15:37- Bruce and Paul talk about how suffering can be grace in disguise 20:35- Paul on surrendering to fight cancer 22:26- Bruce on how suffering promotes presence 23:50- Paul on importance of asking what we really believe 24:58- Bruce on Jesus' teaching not to worry 28:27- Paul on going from surviving to thriving + how his son taught him how to trust 32:25- Bruce on practical atheism 36:18- Paul on being set free from the past 40:22- Bruce on how one's identity affects our ability to be present 43:43- Bruce on shame 45:09- Paul on how it's never too late 48:44- Bruce's final thoughts 50:38- Paul's final thoughts 51:30- Paul's acoustic performance of song "Nothing's Missing" *link to "Nothing's Missing" audio- https://songwhip.com/paul-reeves/nothings-missing  

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey! Here's how this all started... When I was 34 and discovered I had stage-3 cancer, many previously unanswered questions of faith quickly rose to the surface of my heart. And here's the why behind this podcast- I found it incredibly difficult to find truly helpful and safe spaces to process these questions which we all have. But along my journey, God has given me guides who have helped me navigate through this beautiful and mysterious journey of life.  My hope is that these conversations might be a companion to your own spiritual journey.  Grace and peace and love and all that's good, Paul