Fear, Shame, and Centering Prayer with Dr. Brian Russell

Welcome to Wondering Free, a podcast designed to create more space in our spiritual lives and to explore how our practices, experiences, and beliefs shape our relationships with God, each other, and the world around us. We are free to ask big questions. We are free to look beyond ourselves and our comfort zones. We are all free to wonder.

In this episode, Dr. Brian Russell and I invite you into our conversation on Centering Prayer, Fear, Guilt, Shame, and Love. We talk a bit about the theological, biblical, and historical bases for silent prayer, the effects of shame, guilt, and fear on our relationships, and, finally, how a practice like Centering Prayer can lead to transformation and freedom to be our true selves as God sees us. Throughout the conversation, we refer to Brian's new book, available for pre-order, Centering Prayer: How Sitting Quietly in God's Presence Can Change Your Life.

Guest Bio: Brian Russell (Ph.D.) is an award winning professor of biblical studies and a transformational coach for pastors and spiritually-minded professionals. His personal mission is to seek out, study, and embody the deepest truths about God so that he can share them compellingly, lovingly, and transformationally with others. He is the author of Invitation: A Bible Study to Begin With (Seedbed 2014), (re)Aligning with God: Reading Scripture for Church and World (Cascade 2015); and the forthcoming Centering Prayer: How Sitting Quietly in God's Presence Can Change Your Life (releasing 9/14/21 from Paraclete Press--preorder via Amazon or signup for updates: www.centeringprayerbook.com). He is also host of the Deep Dive Spirituality Conversations podcast.

Connecting with Brian:

Twitter: @briandrussell

Instagram: @yourprofessorforlife

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianrussellphd/ 

Coaching for Pastors: www.deepdivespirituality.com

Business and Life Coaching: www.drbrianrussellcoaching.com 

Podcast: deepdivespirituality.podbean.com

God Speaks with Gabriel Gordon, Part 2

Welcome to the the Wondering Free podcast, where we're creating a more spacious spiritual life by exploring our experiences, practices, and beliefs, and how they shape ourselves and the world around us.

I'm so excited to share part two of this two-part series with my friend, author, and biblical studies scholar at Portland Seminary, Gabriel Gordon. We got together to discuss his new book on Scripture and the implications of holding certain beliefs about inspiration, but we had such a great time that we decided to break our conversation up into 2 episodes.

Gabriel and I begin this second episode by closing the the content-driven part of the interview and discussing the ways Jesus interpreted and used the Hebrew Scriptures. Then we spend the rest of our time together exploring some implications of Gabriel's views of inspiration and revelation for our lives and relationships with God, others, and the world.

If you haven't yet listened to Part 1, I highly recommend starting there, since it provides the content and sets the stage for our discussion on the implications of Gabriel's new book.

Guest Bio: Gabriel Gordon graduated with a double major in Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Ministry from Oklahoma Baptist University. He is currently working on his Masters of Theological Studies with a specialization in Biblical Studies from Portland Seminary. He has authored two books and is featured in an edited volume of essays on Christian leadership. In addition, he's a confirmed member of the Episcopal church part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, a self-identified Anglo-Orthodox; and one of the co-founders of The Misfits Theology Club, a blog, podcast, and annual conference dedicated to providing a place of dialogue and working to build unity amongst diverse Christians. He currently lives in Grand Junction, Colorado, with his wife Hannah, and his dog Karl Barth.

Here are some additional links to other individuals and organizations we discussed:
Misfits Theology Podcast
Center for Open & Relational Theology
Thomas Jay Oord & Essential Kenosis

Links to Gabriel's other publications:
Late Night Meanderings with God: A Collection of Essays
Open and Relational Leadership: Leading with Love

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God Speaks with Gabriel Gordon, Part 1

Welcome to the the Wondering Free podcast, where we're creating a more spacious spiritual life by exploring our experiences, practices, and beliefs, and how they shape ourselves and the world around us.

I'm so excited to share part one of a two-part series with my friend, author, and biblical studies scholar at Portland Seminary, Gabriel Gordon. We got together to discuss his new book on Scripture and the implications of holding certain beliefs about inspiration, but we had such a great time that we decided to break our conversation up into 2 episodes.

This episode goes into the details of Gabriel's book, the problems with popular understandings of inspiration, and his proposal for another way to think about inspiration and Scripture. In Part 1, we focus on the theological material to better understand the implications of different views on inspiration, and it definitely enters into nerdy territory, but don't worry, we had a really good time with it and so will you. Gabriel may be a biblical scholar, but he definitely isn't boring!!!

Stay tuned for Part 2 because in the second episode, we talk about the implications of our beliefs about God and Scripture for our lives and our relationships with others and the world around us.

Guest Bio: Gabriel Gordon graduated with a double major in Anthropology and Cross-Cultural Ministry from Oklahoma Baptist University. He is currently working on his Masters of Theological Studies with a specialization in Biblical Studies from Portland Seminary. He has authored two books and is featured in an edited volume of essays on Christian leadership. In addition, he's a confirmed member of the Episcopal church part of the worldwide Anglican Communion, a self-identified Anglo-Orthodox; and one of the co-founders of The Misfits Theology Club, a blog, podcast, and annual conference dedicated to providing a place of dialogue and working to build unity amongst diverse Christians. He currently lives in Grand Junction, Colorado, with his wife Hannah, and his dog Karl Barth.

Here are some additional links to other individuals and organizations we discussed:
Misfits Theology Podcast
Center for Open & Relational Theology
Thomas Jay Oord & Essential Kenosis

Links to Gabriel's other publications:
Late Night Meanderings with God: A Collection of Essays
Open and Relational Leadership: Leading with Love

Follow the Podcast:
Facebook Instagram Twitter