What would you trade for “the whole world”—and how would you know if the price was your soul? We dive into Jesus’ most piercing question and discover it’s not about a distant afterlife, but about the texture of our days: what we attend to, what we ignore, and how small trades add up to a life that quietly withers. We tell the truth about our bargaining—more status for less presence, more security for less courage—and we hold it next to moments that cannot be purchased: kids piled on the couch, siblings crying happy tears at a wedding, a room full of people awake to one another.

We unpack two big ways of seeing the soul. Through a Greek lens, the body is a cage and the soul floats free. Through a Jewish lens, your soul is your whole lived life—your inner life braided with embodied choices, your presence in real time. That shift reframes losing your soul as a daily erosion rather than a cosmic lightning strike. From Peter’s pushback to Jesus’ mission, we trace the hard paradox echoed in all four Gospels: grip your life and you lose it; give your life for something greater and you find it. Not martyrdom for its own sake, but self-giving love that deepens meaning.

You’ll leave with concrete ways to discern your true life: follow your aliveness, read your anger as a value compass, walk toward the fear that hides your gold, serve the need that’s in front of you, and ask who you’d be if possessions didn’t decide your days. The “whole world”—wealth, power, approval—never balances against the real you. The things that weigh most can’t be weighed, and that is why they’re worth everything. If this conversation stirs you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review to tell us what trade you refuse to make.

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A river, three rocks, and a kiss—sometimes the smallest acts carry the most weight. We mark twenty-five years of marriage at Minnehaha Falls with a simple, handmade ritual and open a wider conversation about how ordinary people can create sacred time on purpose. From choosing stones to naming a trait, a memory, and a love, we show how tangible actions can honor the past, shape the present, and gently bend the future.

We also tell the story of a coach who lost his role overnight and needed closure he never got. So we met on the same field with friends, a notebook, and a fire. We shared stories, wrote truth, burned pain, and stood together in the dark. It wasn’t grand, but it was grounding—and it worked. You’ll hear why rituals often feel mysterious in the moment and make sense later, how embodiment helps the brain release what talk alone can’t, and why elements like water, fire, stone, and shared words can turn vague emotion into something we can actually move through.

If you’re carrying stress you can’t control, we offer a five-minute practice: write it down, tear it out, crumple it, trash it, and say out loud, I can’t control this. It’s not my business. If you’re honoring love, grief, or change, you’ll get practical ideas—pour water at a tree to mark loss, light a candle to close the day, keep a pocket stone to cue honesty, or walk a weekly path to reflect and reset. No mystique required, no perfect script—just presence, intention, and a willingness to step out of ordinary time.

If this resonates, share it with a friend who needs a gentle push toward closure or celebration. Subscribe for more reflections, leave a review to help others find the show, and tell us: what ritual will you create this week?

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A charcoal fire, the smell of fish, and a question that won’t let go: Do you love me? We walk the shoreline with Peter from the night of denial to a dawn of restoration, and we discover why Jesus asks three times—not to shame, but to heal, reframe, and entrust. The tension is familiar: there’s the self we intend to be and the self that shows up when fear hits. Instead of pretending the split isn’t there, we name it, then watch how grace composes something larger—like day three of creation, where separation becomes space for life.

We unpack how the miraculous catch opens Peter’s eyes, why the identical charcoal fire matters, and how trauma loses power when it’s spoken aloud. Each yes to “Do you love me?” turns into a concrete task: feed my sheep, tend my lambs. Service becomes the path out of shame’s loop. Along the way, we explore the Hebrew imagination of numbers—one, two, three—as a lens for unity, discord, and harmony that holds both without erasing either. This isn’t theory; it’s a map for everyday choices, from relationships to leadership to the way we show up for our neighbors.

We also turn toward our community and publicly commission Ben with five charges: receive unearned grace, see people with compassion, keep intimacy with God ahead of output, lead by serving, and extend forgiveness by raising others to lead. If your past feels like an anchor or your present feels like drift, this conversation offers a third way forward. Name what hurts. Answer the question. Then feed someone—literally, spiritually, practically. If this episode moves you, share it with a friend, subscribe for more, and leave a review with one tension you’re ready to name and transform.

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What if prayer didn’t feel like a performance, but a place to breathe? We’re sharing a three-part rhythm built around a single word—here—that makes space for presence, release, and direction. It starts with “Here I am,” a small, courageous act of showing up to God as we are. From there, we imagine the steady reply—“Here I am”—and rest in the reality that we are not alone. No fancy language, no spiritual gymnastics, just real presence that calms the noise and recenters our attention.

Next, we move to “Here, God—take this.” This is where honesty becomes freedom. We hand over the heavy things we pretend we can manage: fear we can’t shake, relationships on the edge, work anxiety, anger we keep feeding, private shame that won’t let go. Think of it as unclenching your hands so you can receive what actually heals. Ancient wisdom insists that confession isn’t a spectacle but a doorway; when our hands aren’t full of “my precious,” we can receive mercy, clarity, and strength.

Finally, we ask, “Where do we go from here?” Instead of waiting for a five-year plan, we listen for a right-sized next step—call a friend, make the appointment, apologize, apply, rest, try again. Curiosity becomes obedience in motion. We carry the question through the day: at the sink, on a walk, between emails. Over time, this simple cadence forms a life that’s attentive and lighter to carry, with choices that feel aligned rather than forced.

If you’ve ever wondered whether you’re praying “right,” this conversation lowers the bar and lifts the heart. Give the three H.E.R.E.s a try, then tell us what shifted for you—subscribe, share with a friend who needs some peace today, and leave a quick review to help others find their way here.

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What if your soul is carrying more than it was made to hold? Between constant headlines and endless scrolling, we’re all feeling the weight of a world that never powers down. Today we slow the tide and step into John 14, where Jesus speaks straight to anxious hearts. Philip asks for a sign—“Show us the Father”—and Jesus answers with a deeper invitation: to see Him, listen to Him, and be kept by His Word when everything else shakes.

We walk through the farewell discourse with fresh eyes, exploring why the Word precedes the works, and how that order changes our everyday resilience. Together we name the trap of faux omnipresence, the drift toward believing “anything” in distress, and the quiet courage of be still and know. From there, we get practical. We talk about taking our hands off what we can’t control, cultivating a real relationship with Scripture, and learning to delight in God rather than our fears, our feeds, or the need to be right. These aren’t vague ideals—they’re simple habits that retrain attention, deepen trust, and steady our steps.

We also press into a piercing question: are we content to know about God, or are we becoming people God knows—shaped by His voice, responsive to His lead, and guarded from stumbling by what He has spoken? If your heart feels thin from carrying too much news and too little hope, this conversation offers a grounded path back to peace. Listen now, share it with someone who needs a reset, and if it helps you breathe a little deeper, subscribe and leave a review so others can find it too. Your words help our community grow.

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What if church wasn’t a product but a countercurrent—something that pulls us out of the cultural river and teaches us to live differently? We open up a candid look at why a healthy church community still matters: not as a perfect institution, but as a living alternative to polarization, loneliness, and consumer thinking. Drawing from Israel’s origin story—justice for the vulnerable, honest measures in business, a sexual ethic that dignifies bodies—we trace how an ancient calling can shape modern communities to bless their neighbors, not mirror the marketplace.

Across the conversation, we call out the drift toward “consumer religion,” where music and preaching are rated like apps, and move instead toward participation: serving, giving, and shared worship that forms character. We contrast the internet’s shallow notes—hot takes, instant outrage, and algorithmic speed—with the base notes of the Christian tradition: covenant, mercy, repentance, hope. Those deeper tones invite us to sit with better questions—Who am I? Whose am I? What really matters?—and to practice habits that resist hurry, image-making, and self-promotion.

This is a vision for a multi-generational, cross-class, politically diverse people who gather for something bigger than themselves and then carry that presence into ordinary life—boardrooms and breakrooms, kitchens and city councils. Honest work, hospitality to strangers, care for the poor, peacemaking across divides: these aren’t extras; they are the point. If you’ve been searching for a place that exchanges transaction for trust and speed for substance, consider this your invitation to explore a community defined by grace, truth, and shared life.

If the message resonates, share this episode with a friend, subscribe for future reflections, and leave a review to help others find the show. And if you’re local, join us at Central in Elk River—8:30 for our liturgical gathering or 10:00 for our modern gathering—or visit clcelkriver.org.

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What if the most peaceful season of your life still made room for worry—and that became your greatest teacher? Coming back from a seven-week sabbatical, I share the highs and hiccups: hiking the Dolomites on breathless trails, a tense comedy of errors while driving in Germany, simple joy with my granddaughter, and the quiet ways God showed up when the plans didn’t. Along the way, Jesus’ piercing question—“Why worry?”—moved from a verse I knew to a practice I needed.

We trace that question through the Sermon on the Mount where birds and wildflowers become our teachers. You’ll hear how splitting our trust between God and control fuels anxiety, why 91% of our fears never materialize, and how small, concrete shifts—like a guide’s calm instructions on a cliff—can retrain the heart toward faith. I talk about breath prayers on steep climbs, choosing attention over rumination, and what it means to seek the kingdom first when life feels loud, uncertain, or just plain exhausting.

A redemption story brings it home: a friend once marked by addiction, prison, and loss found freedom in Christ before the state ever granted her pardon. When the legal “yes” finally came, it confirmed what grace had already settled. That’s the heartbeat here—God’s provision is steadier than our plans, His timing wiser than our calendars, and His presence nearer than our fear. If you’re carrying worries about family, health, money, or the future, this conversation offers Scripture, honesty, and practical steps to release control and rest in the One who holds tomorrow. Subscribe, share with someone who needs courage today, and leave a review telling us the one worry you’re ready to lay down.

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Ever wondered why rituals matter? In this thought-provoking exploration, Ryan dives into the transformative power of church community and how it fundamentally shapes who we become.

Drawing from Aristotle's wisdom that "we are what we repeatedly do," they unpack how our regular practices—whether exercise, complaining, gratitude, or worship—slowly mold us into particular kinds of people. The episode reveals the anthropological truth that humans across all cultures have always been ritual-creating beings, not by coincidence but because rituals serve a profound psychological and spiritual purpose.

Through compelling examples like the disruption of funeral rituals during COVID and the importance of marriage ceremonies, Ryan illustrates how rituals take abstract ideals like love and forgiveness and give them concrete, embodied expression. He introduces the fascinating concept of church as a "Jesus Dojo"—a practice ground where we rehearse resurrection living and experiment with countercultural values like forgiveness, patience, and sacrificial love.

Perhaps most powerfully, Ryan explains how worship gently decenters our egos, positioning us within a larger narrative and creating healthier patterns of relating to others and the world. By participating in these ancient rhythms, we're making intentional choices about who we want to become.

Whether you're a regular churchgoer, spiritually curious, or skeptical about organized religion, this episode offers a fresh perspective on why communal rituals matter for human flourishing. What rituals are shaping your life right now? Join the conversation and share your thoughts!

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