Rule of Life

Does a practice like fasting matter in the face of injustice and evil in the world? Can fasting really change any of it? If so, hHow? For the fourth week of our Fasting series, pastor and writer, Tyler Staton joins John Mark Comer, Yinka Dawson, and Jarin Oda to talk about three key characteristics of biblical justice, the differences between standing for and with the poor, and how fasting is a powerful way to empathize with and intercede for our neighbors in need. This podcast accompanies the Fasting Practice, developed by Practicing the Way. Thanks to the generosity of The Circle, all Practices are free. To learn more about The Circle or to run a Practice with your church, community, or small group, visit www.practicingtheway.org.

Do you have a theology of the body? Many of us Western followers of Jesus have been formed to separate our bodies from our spirituality. But fasting might be the discipline we’ve been missing — a way to integrate our faith and our bodies and bring our whole self before God. To sanctify our souls as we fight sin in the flesh. In episode 2, John Mark Comer, Yinka Dawson, and Jarin Oda are joined by a special guest, T Comer, who shares her story of miraculous healing from chronic illness and a generational curse. Through fasting, intercession, and a call to holiness, the Spirit freed her body from fifteen years of serious sickness. This podcast accompanies the Fasting Practice, developed by Practicing the Way. Thanks to the generosity of The Circle, all Practices are free. To learn more about The Circle or to run a Practice with your church, community, or small group, visit www.practicingtheway.org.

Fasting is arguably one of the most neglected spiritual practices in the Western world. Disciples of Jesus and non-Christians alike have so many questions: What is fasting? How can I practice in a healthy way? What about body shame and eating disorders? Is it mandated in the Scriptures? Where do I start?Join us for episode 1 of the Fasting series, where we hear a roundtable discussion with John Mark Comer, Yinka Dawson, and Jarin Oda all about the practice of fasting, from its historical roots to its transforming power and even its practicalities. John Mark, Yinka, and Jarin are joined by Reward Sibanda, who shares his experience with long-term fasting.This podcast accompanies the Fasting Practice, developed by Practicing the Way. Thanks to the generosity of The Circle, all Practices are free. To learn more about The Circle or to run a Practice with your church, community, or small group, visit www.practicingtheway.org.

In this final episode of season 2 of the Rule of Life podcast, we are joined by Strahan Coleman for a conversation on experiencing God, the differences between the fruits of the spirit and the gifts of the spirit, the dangers of depersonalizing God, and how to bring ourselves to silence. Strahan Coleman is an award winning musician, poet, writer, and spiritual director from Aotearoa New Zealand. He is the founder of Commoners Communion, a place for exploring deepness with God through spiritual retreats, a podcast, and online prayer schools. Strahan has written three volumes of poetic prayer books as well as “Beholding: Deepening Our Experience With God” that invites readers into the joy of being in God’s presence.

How should we exist in the tension between contemplation and action? Between listening and speaking? Between public and private? Where do our thoughts and prayers enter in? Join us for a conversation with luminary thinker, Jonathan Tremaine Thomas. This conversation covers contemplative activism, praying in the spirit, and the communion with God found in fasting. Jonathan Tremaine Thomas is a pastor, activist, prayer mobilizer, actor, and the founder of civilrighteousness.com. Today he directs prayer-fueled evangelism, discipleship, community transformation, and racial reconciliation initiatives in the St.Louis area while serving as on the pastoral team at Destiny Church St.Louis. He is also a justice, mercy, and reconciliation fellow at Bridgetown Church. With a strong conviction to “earnestly contend for the faith”; Jonathan carries an uncompromising message of identity in Christ and eternal perspective. He currently resides in Ferguson, MO with his wife Mollie and their young daughter. These podcasts accompany nine Practices developed by Practicing the Way. Thanks to the generosity of The Circle, these Practices are now free. To learn more about The Circle or to participate in a Practice with your church, community, or small group, visit www.practicingtheway.org.

What is it to simply be with God? What does it look like? What does it feel like? In this discussion on the fourth movement of prayer, you’ll hear what it means to go from talking to God, talking with God, and listening to God…to being with God. Existing together in his presence…free from any words at all. This episode features wisdom from Rich Villodas and Strahan Coleman as well as everyday apprentices of Jesus. These podcasts accompany nine Practices developed by Practicing the Way. Thanks to the generosity of The Circle, these Practices are now free. To learn more about The Circle or to participate in a Practice with your church, community, or small group, visit www.practicingtheway.org.

Have you ever wondered: Does God still speak? If he does, how does he speak? And what is he saying? How can I know that it’s him?In the last two episodes of the series, we learned about talking to God and talking with God. And like in many contexts in our modern world, we are better at talking than we are at listening. So what does it look like to listen to God? To hear his voice? In this third movement, listening to God, you’ll hear about six different ways that God speaks and three challenges that encompass our inability to hear him. These podcasts accompany nine Practices developed by Practicing the Way. Thanks to the generosity of The Circle, these Practices are now free. To learn more about The Circle or to participate in a Practice with your church, community, or small group, visit www.practicingtheway.org.

If you have any amount of experience with prayer, you probably have questions. Why does God answer some of my prayers and not others? Why does God wait to answer my prayers? If Jesus came to seek and save the lost and if prayer is powerful, then why doesn’t God seem to answer prayers for my lost friends and family? These questions can compound into confusion about God Himself and eventually lead us to think: Do my prayers matter? Do they matter to God? And do they matter in the real world and in the lives of real people? This episode includes personal stories about unanswered prayer, what prayer says about the character of God, and how different cultural traditions interact with these questions. You’ll also hear wisdom from Strahan Coleman, Pete Greig, and every day apprentices of Jesus. These podcasts accompany nine Practices developed by Practicing the Way. Thanks to the generosity of The Circle, these Practices are now free. To learn more about The Circle or to participate in the Practice with your church, community, or small group, visit www.practicingtheway.org.

In Luke 11, the very first disciples of Jesus ask Him something profound. They don't ask Him how to heal the sick, or how to perform miracles, or how to gain salvation. They ask Jesus something simpler: to teach them to pray. In this second season of the Rule of Life podcast, John Mark Comer is joined by Reward Sibanda, Gemma Ryan, and Tyler Staton for a conversation on four different movements of prayer: talking to God, talking with God, listening to God, and being with God. Episode one takes us into the first movement, talking with God, by examining the Lord's Prayer. These podcasts accompany nine Practices developed by Practicing the Way. Thanks to the generosity of The Circle, these practices are now free. To learn more about The Circle or to participate in the Practice with your church, community, or small group, visit www.practicingtheway.org.

In this final episode of season one of the Rule of Life podcast, you will hear an interview with luminary thinker, Andy Crouch. Topically, this conversation covers a wide range - touching on topics like the spiritual implications of labor saving devices, modern magic, Sabbath, and the truth about human desires.Andy Crouch is partner for theology and culture at Praxis, an organization that works as a creative engine for redemptive entrepreneurship. His writing explores faith, culture, and the image of God in the domains of technology, power, leadership, and the arts. He is the author of five books (plus another with his daughter, Amy Crouch): The Life We're Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World, The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place, Strong and Weak: Embracing a Life of Love, Risk and True Flourishing, Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power, and Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling. For more than ten years Andy was an editor and producer at Christianity Today, including serving as executive editor from 2012 to 2016. His work and writing have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, and several editions of Best Christian Writing and Best Spiritual Writing—and, most importantly, received a shout-out in Lecrae's 2014 single "Non-Fiction." Andy lives with his family in Pennsylvania.

In previous episodes of the Rule of Life podcast, listeners tune in to a roundtable discussion as well as audio-snippets from luminary thinkers, pastors, and apprentices who are following Jesus in the every day. Featured in the Sabbath series (season 1) is luminary thinker, Tish Harrison Warren. This episode of the Rule of Life podcast is the interview between John Mark and Tish in its entirety. In this episode they cover the sacredness of ordinary life, the ethical implications of Sabbath, and the importance of Spiritual, bodily habituation.About TishTish Harrison Warren is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America. She is the author of Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life (Christianity Today's 2018 Book of the Year) and Prayer in the Night: For Those Who Work, or Watch, or Weep (Christianity Today's 2022 Book of the Year and 2022 ECPA Christian Book of the Year).Currently, Tish writes a weekly newsletter for The New York Times, and she is a columnist for Christianity Today. Her articles and essays have appeared in Religion News Service, Christianity Today, Comment Magazine, The Point Magazine, The New York Times, and elsewhere.For over a decade, Tish has worked in ministry settings as a campus minister with InterVarsity Graduate and Faculty Ministries, as an associate rector, and with addicts and those in poverty through various churches and non-profit organizations. Now, Tish serves as Writer in Residence at Resurrection South Austin. She is a founding member of The Pelican Project and a Senior Fellow with the Trinity Forum. She lives with her husband and three children in the Austin, Texas area.

What do you worship? And are you sure? Often times we have a narrow view of what worship is. We think that worship is just singing songs at the front end of a church service, but how do we orient our whole lives toward worship? In this fourth roundtable discussion, John Mark, Bethany, and Bryan discuss the fourth movement, the climax, of sabbath. This discussion on worship is accompanied by clips from Tish Harrison Warren, Rich Villodas, and Andy Crouch as well as every day disciples of Jesus.These podcasts accompany nine Practices developed by Practicing the Way. Thanks to the generosity of The Circle, these practices are now free. To learn more about The Circle or to participate in the Practice with your church, community, or small group, visit www.practicingtheway.org.

In a delight deficient culture, what does it look like to delight in God? Is delight different from happiness? What does delight have to do with practicing the sabbath? In this third episode of the sabbath series, John Mark, Bethany, and Bryan dive into the third movement through the lens of one core reality: God is joyful. These podcasts accompany nine Practices developed by Practicing the Way. Thanks to the generosity of The Circle, these practices are now free. To learn more about The Circle or to participate in the Practice with your church, community, or small group, visit www.practicingtheway.org.

When you hear the word rest, what comes to mind? Relief? Pressure? Familiarity? Foreignness? In this second episode of the sabbath series, John Mark, Bethany, and Bryan answer two ever-present questions: what is rest? And why is rest so hard? Alongside the wisdom of luminary thinkers and every day followers of Jesus, they discuss this second movement of Sabbath through the lens of external and internal resistances to rest itself. These podcasts accompany nine Practices developed by Practicing the Way. Thanks to the generosity of The Circle, these practices are now free. To learn more about The Circle or to participate in the Practice with your church, community, or small group, visit www.practicingtheway.org.

What does it mean to stop in an ever-moving, always quickening, “just a bit more” culture? In this first episode of the Sabbath series, John Mark Comer, Bethany Allen, and Bryan Rouanzoin take a deep dive into the spiritual significance and soul-wide implications of stopping. They’re joined by the wisdom of Rich Villodas and Tish Harrison Warren, as well as the personal testimonies of everyday apprentices of Jesus. These podcasts accompany nine Practices developed by Practicing the Way. Thanks to the generosity of The Circle, these practices are now free. To learn more about The Circle or to participate in the Practice with your church, community, or small group, visit www.practicingtheway.org. 

What becomes possible when we embrace a patient yet courageous approach to sharing the good news of Jesus? Join John Mark Comer and Shelbi Shutt as they explore how to share the gospel through your life and words, featuring conversations with everyday people in the West, testimonials from real-life practitioners, and an interview with luminary Shaila Visser.In this episode’s luminary interview, John Mark and Shaila discuss a whole-life approach to sharing the gospel that is animated by key Kingdom values. Shaila is the National Director of Alpha Canada and the Global Senior Vice-President for Alpha International. If you’re not familiar with Alpha, they exist to equip the church with resources that help people explore their questions about faith and God in a safe, nonjudgmental way. You can connect further with Shaila and the work of Alpha on social media @shailavisser and by searching for 'alpha course' in your country of residence.The idea of sharing our faith can elicit confusion or even aversion for some followers of Jesus. In recognition of this, we created the Reimagining Witness PDF to help you invite people into the Witness Practice with wisdom and clarity. Sign up for our emails to receive the PDF.This podcast accompanies the Witness Practice, a four-session experience designed to help us bear witness to the good news of Jesus in our cultural moment. Learn more at practicingtheway.org/witness.Our Practices are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. Learn more about The Circle at practicingtheway.org/give. Run a Practice with your community and find other resources at practicingtheway.org/resources.

What changes when we know that the Holy Spirit is already at work in the lives of those around us who don’t know Jesus? Join John Mark Comer and Shelbi Shutt as they discuss the role of the Holy Spirit in our witness, featuring conversations with everyday people in the West, testimonials from real-life practitioners, and an interview with luminary Pete Hughes. In this episode's luminary interview, John Mark and Pete explore the Spirit's relationship to the practice of witness through inspiring true stories and practical best practices for growing in the discernment of God's work and leading. Pete is one of the Lead Pastors at KXC (King’s Cross Church) in London, a vibrant community known for its heart for worship, prayer, and mission. Alongside his wife Bea, Pete has spent the last decade planting and leading a church in one of the most secularized corners of the West. You can connect with Pete and the ministry of Kings Cross Church on social media at @petehughes and @kxchurch.The idea of sharing our faith can elicit confusion or even aversion for some followers of Jesus. In recognition of this, we created the Reimagining Witness PDF to help you invite people into the Witness Practice with wisdom and clarity. Sign up for our emails to receive the PDF.This podcast accompanies the Witness Practice, a four-session experience designed to help us bear witness to the good news of Jesus in our cultural moment. Learn more at practicingtheway.org/witness.Our Practices are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. Learn more about The Circle at practicingtheway.org/give. Run a Practice with your community and find other resources at practicingtheway.org/resources.

What if our ordinary homes and tables were brimming with latent potential for gospel encounters? Join John Mark Comer and Shelbi Shutt as they explore the role hospitality plays in our witness, featuring conversations with everyday people in the West, testimonials from real-life practitioners, and an interview with luminary Drew Hyun.In this episode's luminary interview, John Mark and Drew discuss how hospitality, as a form of witness, relies on us not only sharing the good news but also becoming what Drew calls 'good news people.' Drew is the Founder and Lead Pastor of Hope Church NYC, and the Executive Director of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship, an organization that aims to transform church culture through deeply changed pastors and leaders. You can connect with Drew and the ministry of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship @drewhyun on social media and at emotionallyhealthy.org. The idea of sharing our faith can elicit confusion or even aversion for some followers of Jesus. In recognition of this, we created the Reimagining Witness PDF to help you invite people into the Witness Practice with wisdom and clarity. Sign up for our emails to receive the PDF.This podcast accompanies the Witness Practice, a four-session experience designed to help us bear witness to the good news of Jesus in our cultural moment. Learn more at practicingtheway.org/witness.Our Practices are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. Learn more about The Circle at practicingtheway.org/give. Run a Practice with your community and find other resources at practicingtheway.org/resources.

How can we move beyond duty and obligation, into a witness motivated by a deep love for the lost? Join John Mark Comer and Shelbi Shutt as they explore the core motivation for the practice of witness — featuring conversations with everyday people in the West, testimonials from real-life practitioners, and an interview with luminary Ger Jones.In this episode's luminary interview, John Mark and Ger explore how the cultural landscape in the West has evolved over the past few decades and how this evolution should influence our approach to sharing the good news as followers of Jesus. Ger is the lead pastor of Vintage Church in Los Angeles, California. Since moving there from the UK with his wife, Lizzie, in 2011, Ger has spent over a decade forming a community with a wide open door for those exploring faith and the more difficult questions that come along with it. You can connect with Ger and the ministry of Vintage Church on social media at @gerjones and @vintagechurchla.The idea of sharing our faith can elicit confusion or even aversion for some followers of Jesus. In recognition of this, we created the Reimagining Witness PDF to help you invite people into the Witness Practice with wisdom and clarity. Sign up for our emails to receive the PDF.This podcast accompanies the Witness Practice, a four-session experience designed to help us bear witness to the good news of Jesus in our cultural moment. Learn more at practicingtheway.org/witness.Our Practices are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. Learn more about The Circle at practicingtheway.org/give. Run a Practice with your community and find other resources at practicingtheway.org/resources.

What if service in the way of Jesus was meant to lead not first to life change or impact, but to relationship? Join Tyler Staton and Shelbi Shutt as they explore kinship as Jesus’ destination for a life of service, featuring conversations with everyday people in the West, testimonials from real-life practitioners, and an interview with a roundtable including Charlee Tchividjian, Gabrielle Clowdus, and Sara Miller.In this episode’s roundtable, Tyler and this incredible group of female leaders explore why this practice must move beyond service-provider and service-recipient relationships into reciprocal relationships. Charlee Tchividjian is the founder of Every Mother’s Advocate (everymothersadvocate.org), an organization that provides one-on-one, ongoing support for at-risk mothers. Gabrielle Clowdus is the founder of Settled (settled.org) — a team committed to addressing homelessness through close relationships with the chronically homeless and those who serve them. Sara Miller is the founder of A House on Beekman (ahouseonbeekman.org), which empowers children and youth to flourish in the South Bronx.This podcast accompanies the Service Practice, a four-session experience designed to help you serve in the way of Jesus. Learn more at practicingtheway.org/service. Our Practices are free, thanks to the generosity of The Circle and other givers. Learn more about The Circle at practicingtheway.org/give. Run a Practice with your community and find other resources at practicingtheway.org/resources.