Life with God: A Renovaré Podcast

Nathan talks with prison chaplain John Paul Westin about the penitentiary as parish and learning to see each person there as God's "friends and special ones." Show Notes A few annotated book suggestions from John Paul: Cur Deus HomoThe 3 Colors of CommunityFearfully and WonderfullyThe ShackLife of the BelovedThe Brother's KaramazovThe Heart of the ParishHearing GodReading the Bible with the DamnedLetters and Papers from Prison

Audrey Elledge and Elizabeth Moore, authors of Liturgies for Wholeness, join Nate to talk about the formational power of liturgy and friendship. Friendship is a relational connection point many people struggle with, but it's a grand invitation into deeper relationship with God. —Nathan FosterShow Notes Books by Elizabeth Moore and Audrey Elledge Liturgies for Hope: Sixty Prayers for the Highs, the Lows, and Everything in BetweenLiturgies for Wholeness: 60 Prayers to Encounter the Depth, Creativity, and Friendship of God in Ordinary MomentsAlso mentioned in the episode: Every Moment HolyWays to connect with Audrey and Elizabeth: Elizabeth Moore: Instagram Twitter Audrey Elledge: Facebook Twitter LinkedIn

This meditation by Nathan Foster on Luke 22 invites us to the Mount of Olives where Jesus prayed “let this cup pass from me.”

Trevor Hudson shares reflections on the influence that Desmond Tutu had on his life — as a friend, colleague, cellmate, and “contemplative in action.” Show Notes Nobel Prize biography pageMade for GoodnessBooks by Trevor Hudson Other Episodes With This Guest Ep 47: Trevor Hudson — Friendship with GodEp 73: Trevor Hudson — Holiness is Better Than You ThinkEp 131: Trevor Hudson — Listen to the GroansEp 154: Trevor Hudson — Meeting Christ in Our TearsEp 153: Trevor Hudson — The Litmus Test for LentEp 215: Trevor Hudson and Jan Johnson — What Is Spiritual Direction?Ep 239: Trevor Hudson — Seeking God

“We enriched each other.” Luci Shaw speaks with Nate about her rich friendship with Madeleine L'Engle and how they made one another better writers and better followers of Jesus. Show Notes + Transcript Nate: Lucy, we get to talk about your friend today. How did you first come to meet Madeline? Luci: Well, Madeleine and I met originally at Wheaton College at a conference on, on literature, and she was a speaker and I was a speaker, and so we just happened to connect at that, at that time, and we discovered we had a lot in common. Madeline had just written a couple of poems that she wanted published. So, since my husband and I had just started the publishing company, Harold Shaw Publishers, I asked Madeline if she would like us to publish her poetry. Which is one of the things we had planned to do, was publish poetry people of faith. So, we did. We published two of her books. One was called A Cry Like a Bell. And the other one was Oh, I can't even remember the name of it. But this was very early on. And we discovered the more we talked, the more we found we had in common. We loved Bach. We loved the music of Bach. We had a number of common friends. That was way back when. Nate: Now, was this before she'd written Wrinkle in Time? Luci: She had written A Wrinkle in Time. Nate: And then you two went on to write some books together. Luci: That's right, yeah, we had our publishing company, and we were trying to publish, books by people of faith who had a literary bent. Anyway, that was the beginning of a really fruitful friendship. We found that, though Madeline had a number of people who were devoted to her and looked up to her, she didn't have many colleagues who were sort of meeting her at the friendship level, not just the sort of worshipful level that she had managed to accumulate. So, the first book that we did together, I asked her to write a book on faith, how faith and literature work together. So she, at one point, handed me this very untidy typescript. Piles and piles of typed notes and possible chapter headings and so on. So I had to just take the whole thing, pull it apart, I emptied my dining room, got the table out of the way, and started making piles. of different ideas that would flow together. We called it the Weather of the Heart. She needed someone who could sort of say, Madeline, you can't say that. You know, that's... not orthodox. We'll have to talk through that one. So, we did. We did a lot of discussion. She came from a very liberal background in New York City. I came from a very conservative background. And we sort of met in the middle and discovered that we loved each other's works. And we learned a lot from each other and through each other. Nate: What did you learn from her? Luci: I learned to be a lot more open about what faith in God was all about. That you didn't have formulas by which to describe your faith. That this was a freeing thing, that the Holy Spirit of God could work in different ways. We just enjoyed each other's experiences with the Spirit of God. We shared so much. We found that working together was truly an act of worship to God. I remember after working through an entire manuscript, The Weather of the Heart, we finished all the copy editing and so on, we spontaneously stood to our feet and sang the doxology, "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow." Nate: What do you want people to remember about her? Luci: I want them to remember that she loved God with all her heart. That she wanted to be God's child and servant. And I think that what I could bring to her was a sense that God was larger than either her understanding or my understanding of God. That God was so magnificent and so wide, in the ways we could reach to God through the Holy Spirit. So it was a very Trinitarian friendship. She loved Jesus, and you know, the fact that God was both Jesus and also the Divine Creator of the world. Nate: How did you see her work influence people spiritually? Luci: I think she...

Amisho “Sho” Baraka joins Nate for a fascinating conversation about George Washington Carver — a man whose faith directed his genius toward the good of others. Resources The Man Who Talks with the Flowers: The Intimate Life Story of Dr. George Washington CarverEssential Writings of the American Black ChurchTuskegee UniversityHe Saw That It Was Good“The Narrative,”“Bravery to Faithfully Create,”Other episodes with this guest Episode 234 : Sho Baraka — He Saw That It Was Good

Pastor and author Andrew Arndt talks with Nathan Foster about how the stories and examples of the desert fathers and mothers move from exhaustion, burnout, and pain into a more vibrant faith.

Mimi Dixon shares how the life and words of Catherine Doherty—a pioneer for interracial justice and mentor to Thomas Merton—helped her to return to her first love. Resources PoustiniaFirst Meet GodLuminous Lives

Matthew Clark joined Nate in-person to tape this week's podcast conversation on the topic of truth — truthful storytelling, truthful music, true relationships and true worship. Visit Matthew Clark's website. Books by Matthew Clark Tale of Two Trees Only The Lover Sings Find Matthew's music on Spotify and Apple Matthew's Podcast — One Thousand Words: Stories Along the Way

Printmaker Sally Kendrick talks with Nate about the creative act of finding and printing specimens from nature as a way of cultivating "openness to the presence of God and willingness to receive the love of God." Sally Kendrick is a Maryland-based photographer with Carolina roots. She began experimenting with cyanotypes as a way of cultivating a habit of attentiveness to the beauty in the natural world around her. renovare.orgTrue Impressions: Daily Prayers downloads@turkeycreekprints

Sarah Clarkson spoke with Nathan Foster from her home in the UK about her experiences with grief and fear and the way God has been restoring faith, hope, and love in her life through the gift of beauty. Sarah's Website: https://sarahclarkson.com Books by Sarah: This Beautiful Truth: How God's Goodness Breaks into Our Darkness Book Girl: A Journey Through the Treasures and Transforming Power of a Reading Life Caught Up in a Story: Fostering a Storyformed Life of Great Books & Imagination with Your Children The Life Giving Home: Creating a Place of Belonging and Becoming

Mark Buchanan, author of God Walk: Moving at the Speed of your Soul, talks with Nate about the restorative gifts of God available to us in natural world. Books by Mark Buchanan God Walk: Moving at the Speed of your SoulDavid: RiseDavid: ReignThe Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring SabbathYour God is Too Safe: Rediscovering the Wonder of a God You Can't Control Visit Mark’s website Renovaré resources with Mark Buchanan Good Grief“Being More Pedestrian”

The Renovaré Podcast with Nathan Foster returns with new episodes and a new name... Life with God. The next several episodes center the conversation around things that restore our souls—places of connection to God and gifts from the Lord that bring us inward healing. Katelyn Dixon leads off the series by looking at the creative act of writing as spiritual healing. Read Katelyn's writing on Renovare.orgVisit Katelyn's website

A 20-minute meditation—an audio retreat—on Psalm 131. Put on some headphones, find a comfortable spot, and let your soul be quieted. This episode is a collaboration with Joshua Banner from The Invitation Podcast (invitationpodcast.org).

Prayer doesn't have to be perfect, just real. Brian Morykon and Nathan Foster talk about music and writing as forms that help us craft authentic prayers in this 2015 episode of the Renovaré Podcast. Brian's song that is referenced in the podcast conversation and played at the end of the episode is What Can I Do (lyrics below), from The Smallest Seed, released December 18, 2012. (c) All rights reserved. Please give me grace to be weak The moment I'm strong I get up and leave Where am I going in such a rush anyway My heart tap of love is running dry Tried to fix it myself and clogged my mind I'm knee deep and need Your touch to put things right What can I do apart from You? I made a god of self-control Worshipped my will like it saved my soul Made sacrifices but nothing satisfied it Where is that 12 step meeting place for addicts high on their own ways I'm ready to surrender I can build my house on the sand A fragile façade where I can pretend until one strong blow of your wind I am left standing without any walls And the Wind that just broke me breathes in my soul the Breath of Life... oh… Find more of Brian's music at morykon.com.

"Each day is God's gift… But we have a choice." Jan Johnson talks with Nate about how to rejoice and be glad with the help of spiritual disciplines. Find more Jan Johnson resources at janjohnson.org

Mimi Dixon invites us to let Julian of Norwich teach us that “all shall be well" in this encore episode that first aired in 2017.

Nathan Foster takes a famous quote from Julian of Norwich and festoons each phrase with his own thoughts. Come linger over Julian’s words in this audio retreat, with music by Joshua Banner.

With gratitude for the life of Donn Thomas, we share this episode from the Renovaré Podcast archive (originally aired April 13, 2020). Donn speaks with Nate about his cancer diagnosis and other scary situations, and how God's presence helps us move from fear to confidence.

Monica and Jeremy Chambers join Nate to discuss ways of engaging with two transforming prayers for the Christian life: Psalm 23 and the Lord’s Prayer.