Being Human with Steve Cuss

After eight years, Steve Cuss is putting Being Human temporarily on pause— to launch a new Christianity Today podcast examining healthy and unhealthy cultures in churches and Christian nonprofits. In this brief update, he shares what listeners can expect. He also teases his upcoming book with his wife, Lisa. And, fear not! Being Human will return in 2027! Episode Resources: The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill Managing Leadership Anxiety: Yours and Theirs Scripture Referenced: John 1:5 (ESV) Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders Capable Life Newsletter Get the Assets & Liabilities pdf and the Life Giving List Join Steve at an Upcoming Intensive Capable Life Intensives Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Steve and Lisa Cuss explore miraculous healing, refugee ministry, and faith amid uncertainty in this Being Human showcase of God’s expansive kingdom. Jackie Aviles prepared her family for her death before experiencing healing. Ryan Keating’s ministry in Turkey grew from five registrants to feeding 5,000 refugee families. And author Ellen Vaughn braved a battered Russian helicopter to visit a Cambodian church orphanage. What do their stories reveal about trusting God when hope feels out of reach? Discover how God’s expansive kingdom takes shape through churches around the world—and people who carry one another’s hope. More from Jackie Aviles: Jackie Aviles’ website Learn about Embassy Church More from Ellen Vaughn: Ellen Vaughn’s What Jesus Started: The World-Changing Power of the Local Church Charles Colson with Ellen Santilli Vaughn’s The Body Check out Ellen Vaughn’s website More from Ryan Keating: More about Ryan Keating Scripture Referenced: 2 Corinthians 4 ESV Psalm 118:24 (ESV) Philippians 1:21 (ESV) John 16:33 (ESV) Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders Capable Life Newsletter Get the Assets & Liabilities pdf and the Life Giving List Join Steve at an Upcoming Intensive Capable Life Intensives Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Join Steve Cuss and author Ellen Vaughn, who once rode a rusty, cracked-fuselage Russian helicopter across Cambodia—and arrived to hear children from a local church orphanage singing “This Is the Day” in English, as they unpack stories from God’s Expansive Kingdom. Ellen’s chat with Steve captures the stories behind her book What Jesus Started: churches thriving in places marked by poverty, persecution, and violence. Vaughn reflects on what she learned from believers who don’t expect life to be easy, including the astonishing freedom of a Rwandan pastor who forgave the neighbor who killed members of his family. She also talks candidly about her husband Lee’s decade-long battle with brain cancer, Chuck Colson’s publishing integrity, and why the church must remain independent of political power.More from Ellen Vaughn: Ellen Vaughn’s What Jesus Started: The World-Changing Power of the Local Church More about C.S. Lewis Institute  More about The Killing Fields Chuck Colson’s Prison Fellowship Charles Colson with Ellen Santilli Vaughn’s The Body Episode Resources: More about Ellen Vaughn Ellen Vaughn’s Being Elisabeth Elliot: The Authorized Biography: Elisabeth’s Later Years Ellen Vaughn’s Becoming Elisabeth Elliot Scripture Referenced: Genesis 28:16 (ESV) John 1:5 (ESV) Psalm 118:24 (ESV) Philippians 1:21 (ESV) 2 Corinthians 1:3–4 (ESV) John 16:33 (ESV) 2 Corinthians 5:7 (ESV) Isaiah 45:7 (ESV) Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders Capable Life Newsletter Get the Assets & Liabilities pdf and the Life Giving List Join Steve at an Upcoming Intensive Capable Life Intensives Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2016, doctors gave young mother Jackie Aviles six months to live. As cancer spread through her bones and lymph nodes, she prepared her children for her death and even chose a casket. Now, ten years cancer-free, Jackie tells Steve how faith, medicine, grief, and what she describes as God’s supernatural healing shaped her family’s journey. Jackie and her husband, pastor Emilio, also faced the pain of leading a church while grieving—and learned that listening can matter more than offering easy reassurance. Their conversation explores hope when healing doesn’t come, the difference between caring and carrying, and why peace may matter more than clarity. More from Jackie Aviles: Jackie Aviles’ website Learn about Embassy Church Episode Resources: More about Matt Chandler Learn about the Bright City Church team Scripture Referenced: 2 Corinthians 4 ESV 2 Corinthians 1:3–4 ESV 2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV Romans 5:3–5 ESV Philippians 4:7 ESV Romans 8:28 ESV Philippians 1:21 ESV Philippians 1:6 ESV Isaiah 40:31 ESV Isaiah 53:5 ESV Mark 4:35–41 ESV John 15:5 ESV Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders Capable Life Newsletter Get the Assets & Liabilities pdf and the Life Giving List Join Steve at an Upcoming Intensive Capable Life Intensives Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Bad news isn’t the main story of the church. On Being Human, Steve Cuss talks with pastor Ryan Keating and Resource Global founder Tommy Lee about faith in action—from feeding thousands of refugees in Turkey to equipping Christian leaders and expanding access to education in Indonesia. As part of the “God’s Expansive Kingdom” series, these conversations explore global ministry, faith and work, and the lasting impact of small, faithful investments in people. Discover how noticing God at work can interrupt anxiety, renew hope, and help you see fresh possibilities in your own community. Episode Resources: Learn about & support Resource Global Learn about Fellowship Church in Connecticut Learn about Doctor Share Timothy Keller’s Every Good Endeavor More about Tommy Lee More about Ryan Keating Sign up for Steve’s Newsletter & Podcast Reminders Capable Life Newsletter Get the Assets & Liabilities pdf and the Life Giving List Join Steve at an Upcoming Intensive Capable Life Intensives Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices