This Good Word With Steve Wiens

Reverend Elizabeth Hagan is a graduate of Duke Divinity School, a multi-published author, and has been a pastor for 15 years. She saw the isolation, loneliness, and shame that remains unspoken when Christians shy away from difficult conversations on taboo topics. Elizabeth knew that the church could do better to foster a sense of acceptance and belonging. So she wrote Brave Church to open the door to the presence of God in difficul...

Tyler Sit is a pastor, author, and church planter of New City Church in South Minneapolis, a multi-racial church focused on environmental justice and centering marginalized voices.

Tyler's new book, Staying Awake: The Gospel for Change Makers, is a practical exploration of Christianity for people who want to show up for justice and stay in the movement. Complete with stories, worksheets, poetry, and a commitment to centering queer ...

Winn Collier just released A Burning in My Bones, the authorized biography of Pastor and author Eugene Peterson. It's a brilliantly written book about a centered pastor during a time when many pastors succumbed to a consumer-driven philosophy about church and spiritual development. Winn's spirit is gentle and his voice grounded me. We recorded this conversation during the week that Daunte Wright was killed by a police officer here ...

Kevin Butcher is a dear friend of mine, and I loved this conversation. He just can't stop talking about God's expansive love, and I can't get enough of it. 

He was a Pastor for thirty-five years, but now he's the Founder and Executive Director of Rooted Ministries, a nonprofit that comes alongside isolated, wounded, discouraged pastors and their families. 

His brand new book is called Free: Rescued from Shame-Based Religion, Releas...

Kurt Willems is the founder and pastor of Pangea Church in Seattle, Washington. Also a writer, blogger, podcaster and speaker, he maintains the resource website Theology Curator and hosts the Theology Curator podcast. Kurt is passionate about taking dense ideas and communicating them in ways that are empowering for people in all walks of life. He holds a master of divinity degree from Fresno Pacific Biblical Seminary and a maste...

Sarah Bessey is the author of the popular and critically acclaimed books Jesus Feminist, Out of Sorts: Making Peace with an Evolving Faith, and Miracles and Other Reasonable Things. Her brand new book is a collection of meditations entitled A Rhythm of Prayer: A Collection of Prayers for Renewal. She is a sought-after speaker at churches, conferences, and universities all around the world. Sarah is also the co-curator and co-host o...

3000 Miles to Jesus follows the adventurous journey of three pilgrims who set off for Jerusalem in the 1400s. We’re invited to grab our staff and scrip and come along. Walking with these travelers of old, we hear their stories, gain nuggets of wisdom, and learn an important spiritual truth: all of life is a pilgrimage. The book draws on the rich history of the Christian faith to encourage us on our daily and lifelong walk with G...

Greg Paul is a pastor and member, as well as the founder, of the Sanctuary community in Toronto. Sanctuary, a community in which people who are wealthy and people who are poor live, work, and share their experiences and resources on a daily basis, makes a priority of welcoming and caring for some of the most hurting and excluded people in Canada’s largest city, including people struggling with addiction, mental illness, prostitutio...

This is the second part of a two-part series that I created to help people engage in life as it really is, rather than life as we'd prefer it to be. Most of us are well aware of the things we'd like to change in our lives: maybe it's a number on a scale, or something about our job, or how we function in a relationship... come to think of it, what DON'T we want to change in 2020? In part 1, I talked about the importance of sitting i...

Most of us are well aware of the things we'd like to change in our lives: maybe it's a number on a scale, or something about our job, or how we function in a relationship... come to think of it, what DON'T we want to change in 2020? In this episode, I talk about the importance of sitting in the discomfort of WHY we want those things to change before rushing to change them. Otherwise, we're just trading one type of discontent for an...

Is it possible to hold strong opinions and beliefs AND learn to express them without alienating and dehumanizing those who disagree with you? Can you really engage and have a robust conversation where you disagree without getting triggered and traumatized? 

In this episode, I introduce four practices that will help you learn to engage in tough conversations with grace and passion and leave conversations feeling energized instead of...

I met Latifah Alattas last year when we started collaborating on a new project (The Fun Parts Podcast). I was immediately drawn to her creativity, her infectious laughter, and her commitment to honesty. She's a singer/songwriter who has written under many different monikers, including Moda Spira and Page CXVI. 

Latifah just released a new album called All (as Page CXVI). It's gorgeous, including old hymns she's rewritten to have ge...

I recorded this episode based on a blog post I wrote a few years ago when the Me Too movement was just getting started. The blog was titled "An Ode to the Women Who are Too Much." We need to hear those voices, to hear their stories, and to stop telling women they are too much. 

Click here to read "An Ode to the Women Who are Too Much."

I also mentioned Sue Monk Kidd's gorgeous new book, The Book of Longings. It's an imaginative sto...

Megan Westra is the host of a great podcast called The Podluck, and she's the author of a fantastic new book called Born Again and Again, which chronicles her evolving faith. Our conversation went everywhere from her super-conservative upbringing in the Southern Baptist Church to the questions she's currently still wrestling with.

Click here to buy Megan's new book, Born Again and Again. 

Find out more about Megan by visiting her w...

Why is it that most of us listen to everybody else but neglect our own inner wisdom? Why don't we trust that voice? Is the heart (as the bible claims), really "deceitful above all things?" In this episode, I talk about how to learn to listen for your inner wisdom, how you can borrow true wisdom from others in order to find your own inner wisdom, and what we can learn about inner wisdom from a bizarre story called the 18th camel. En...