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Dawn Barton

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Empowering women to embrace their Mid-Life years, obstacles give us reasons to embrace joy, and the little things we do to love ourselves matter.

“I’m ridiculously passionate about working with women. I have the privilege of coaching them to levels of success in their personal and professional lives that transcends their wildest dreams. Before I decided to dive into this joy thing full time, I was a top ten sales director for one of the world’s biggest direct sales brands (my last team hit a million in sales for the year — yay us!). Now my opportunities to empower women take many different forms.

I’m an author, a speaker, an entrepreneur and a mentor. I work in person and online, with individuals, small groups, and auditorium-sized crowds. I’m proud to use the experiences of my personal journey to help others find happiness and success even in the darkest of days. I wholeheartedly believe that the obstacles in our lives should not beat us down, but give us reasons to more fully embrace joy wherever we can find it.

Best of all, I’m arm candy to Craig (it might be kind of like a big bag of cotton candy but close enough); I’m a mom to two awesomely cool females (who are 17 years apart!) and a grandmother to four. We are living happily ever after in Cantonment, Florida, with four dogs, three cats, three horses and a partridge in a pear tree.

We all need more joy. I have found joy in places you’d think it was unfindable — despite the pain of losing a child, divorce, rape, stage 3 cancer and more. I want to share my stories with you because I have discovered how joy is a choice that makes life worth living.”

LINKS:

CHERYL SCRUGGS is the host of the Thriving Beyond Belief podcast. She and her husband, Jeff, are doing life together and thriving in Dallas, Texas.

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REPLAY: John Mark Comer

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The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

Please welcome John Mark Comer to the Thriving Beyond Belief podcast this week talking about our world of HURRY and how we can eliminate it!!

Author and Former Megachurch Pastor John Mark Comer Advocates a New Practice for Your Spiritual Life: Slowing Down

Our worst moments tend to happen when we are in a hurry—late for an appointment, behind on our to-do list, cramming too much in our day. It occurs when we’re trying constantly to do more, creating a bone-deep tiredness not just in our minds or bodies but deep in our souls. In short, hurry doesn’t just make us weary. It is the great enemy of our spiritual life.

Author and pastor John Mark Comer proposes that the solution to being fully present to God, others, and our own hearts is found simply by following the unhurried way of Jesus. He explains, “Jesus invites all of us to take up the ‘easy’ yoke. He has—on offer to all—an easy way to shoulder the weight of life with his triumvirate of love, joy, and peace.”

Comer’s journey to discovering the life-changing remedy of slowing down began while he was pastoring a successful megachurch with six services each Sunday, a marathon lifestyle which left him feeling burnt out and detached from those around him. In a moment of desperation, he asked his mentor, John Ortberg, for advice. The response he received was the same as what philosopher and Christian spiritual formation teacher Dallas Willard had given to Ortberg years before: “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. There is nothing else.”

As Comer put this simple truth into practice in his own life, he experienced radical renewal in his mental, spiritual, and emotional well-being. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry describes his transformation and offers hope amidst the toxicity in our fast-paced, modern world.

In a casual, conversational tone, he presents a poignant message: “This is an invitation—for all the tired, the burned out, the stressed, all those stuck in traffic and behind on their to-do list….If you want to experience the life of Jesus, you have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus.”

John Mark Comer lives, works, and writes in the urban core of Portland, Oregon. He is the pastor for teaching and vision at Bridgetown Church. Prior to that, he was lead pastor of a suburban megachurch. He has a master’s degree from Western Seminary and is the author of Loveology, Garden City, and God Has a Name. John Mark lives in Portland with his wife, Tammy, and their three children.

 

LISTEN ON ITUNES

Highlights:

  • Relying on the teachings and example of Jesus, Comer provides four down-to-earth practices for unhurrying your life:
  • silence and solitude
  • Sabbath
  • simplicity
  • slowing

Related Links:

 

108: Kelly Minter

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This week on the Thriving Beyond Belief podcast, Kelly Minter!

FROM KELLY:

“My parents raised me along with my three younger siblings in Northern Virginia, which is an important distinction because it means D.C. metro, traffic, and politics more than the Blue Ridge Mountains. In the Minter home, although our family didn’t always get it right, we mostly got it real. As a child, I struggled with acute anxiety and waves of depression before I or the people around me had much language or help for such things. The Word of God became my balm. This is one of the reasons I love the Bible so.

In my twenties, I moved to the Nashville after signing a record deal. Soon after unloading all my belongings, I got used to the perks of the south—a then slower pace and novelties like cheese grits. If I’d written the rest of the story, the next few paragraphs would include the heights of happiness and fulfillment as a result of success and notoriety. But that’s not what happened.

I poured myself into three records—but instead of fame and fortune, pretty much everything I’d put my hope in unraveled before me. I eventually ended up with an opportunity to write a book, which is now out of print—so that went well, too. I was looking to people, career paths, and success to fill me, but whatever splashed into my bucket only leaked out. I had a bunch of those ‘cracked cisterns’ in my heart that are mentioned in Jeremiah—the kind that obviously don’t hold water. Maybe you can relate?

Around that time LifeWay asked if I’d be interested in writing a Bible study. I was equal parts thrilled and overwhelmed by the opportunity. (This was around the same time when I’d run into people I hadn’t seen in a while and they’d say encouraging things like, “Oh do you still live here?”) Since the Lord was deconstructing just about every false god I had in my life at the time, I wrote about what I knew and what I needed to learn—the idols I was trusting for worth and meaning. I thought it a good idea to invite real people to my house to pilot the material I was writing—people who would tell me the truth. We cooked and ate together, dug through Bible passages with intensity, prayed with one another, and laughed for hours. (That was before everyone started having kids). Shortly thereafter, No Other Gods was published.

What followed, quite unexpectedly for me, were invitations to speak at churches across the country, a few more books, teaching local Bible studies, and the opportunity to lead worship at my home church and abroad. So did a trip down the Amazon in a riverboat.  As in…the real one in the jungle, my friends.

I’d been invited on a riverboat adventure to serve the forgotten people of the jungle. My comfortable, western lifestyle and mindset was challenged at every turn. Since then, I’ve traveled to the jungle numerous times with an organization called Justice & Mercy International, and I’ve since written a book about it. I sit on the board of JMI, and I’m a passionate supporter and participant of their annual jungle pastors’ conference. The invitation to be on mission with God, both here and abroad, is one of the greatest joys of my life.

Today I’m grateful for the opportunities to study and teach the Word of God—the very words that have changed my life. I’m also thankful to be singing and writing music, bringing it all together at an event called Cultivate. Other joys include teaching the Bible to the younger generation and serving them coffee in weighty diner mugs (the younger generation must understand the weight of the diner mug—pun absolutely intended). I adore community, which naturally means I’m zealous for all things food, cooking, and gardening. I’ve adopted the southern love of college football. I am an ecstatic aunt of six nieces and nephews who say things like, “You’re the best Kelly ever,” even when I don’t feel like it. In all things, I delight in the person of Jesus in whom is found the only redemption this world has ever known. My joy is to know Him, talk about Him, and teach the Word that is all about Him.

As you wander over these webpages and maybe even go through a book or Bible study, I hope you taste the sweet joy of Jesus and feel a warm welcome from Nashville.

– Kelly

 

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Highlights:

  • Coming soon…

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107: Lauren Scruggs Kennedy

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This week on the Thriving Beyond Belief podcast, my sweet daughter, Lauren Scruggs Kennedy!

Lauren and her twin sister, Brittany, were born in Redondo Beach! Raised in Dallas, Texas she calls herself a California girl whose roots are deep in the heart of Texas.

Lauren loves Jesus, her hubby, Jason Kennedy, her family, friends and clean living!

And that’s what this episode is about! We are going to talk about Lauren’s The Clean Sweep program!

Lauren Scruggs Kennedy on Thriving Beyond Belief

Lauren is beyond thrilled to offer this three-month program to you– Now $89.99 (after Dec 25th $129)! It is an organized, thorough guidebook to help lead you on a journey toward clean living by diving deeply into food, products, and healthy practices.

She has gathered everything she knows about wellness from her years of extensive research and personal experience and put it into a 90-day informational program, The Clean Sweep, of understandable and practical ways to improve your health.

She is a big believer in the importance of proper food choices, products, and practices, but she wants to stress that implementing everything perfectly is unrealistic. It took her quite some time to transition into this lifestyle, and it takes patience, grace and endurance along the way!

This process included swapping out toxic products one by one for clean options that still get the job done, figuring out which foods gave her a healthy gut, glowing skin, mental clarity, and significant energy, and discovering which practices provide physical healing as well as tools against anxiety, stress, and fear.

Oh! And it is important to remember how personal this journey is; what is great for one may not be great for another. She would love for you to enter into this daily resource filled with encouragement, grocery lists, recipes, the ins and outs of celery juice, exclusive interviews with health professionals, a private FB page for you and those around you who are journeying with you (including a monthly FB Live where I will answer your questions), and a shop of all of the products, supplements, and books she recommends to make this process as easy as possible, and so much more!

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Highlights:

  • Educating yourself on clean living– food, products and practices takes time but worth it!
  • Be patient with yourself, but move towards clean living. You won’t regret it!
  • Want a more vibrant life: check out The Clean Sweep!

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FEATURED PRODUCTS

The Clean Sweep Program (Instant Download)

Get $40 off if you order before December 25th, 2019

106: Ashley Abercrombie

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A willingness to be vulnerable and share a personal story takes courage. Speaker, blogger, and pastor, Ashley Abercrombie knows this first hand. In her new book, Rise of the Truth Teller: Own Your Story, Tell it Like it Is, and Live with Holy Gumption, she writes about her private journey surviving rape, abortion, dysfunctional relationships, and overcoming addictions all while maintaining her gritty, no-nonsense style.

It was in the story telling that allowed Abercrombie to find her strength and her voice. And now she wants to offer readers permission to break the silence on their own pain and shame in order to find healing, encouragement, and ultimately, the gumption to carry on.

She urges Christians to release others to do the same and in turn embrace the truth of the social injustices facing our country today, including rural poverty, race, the criminal justice system, and gender roles. Throughout the book, Abercrombie ruthlessly encourages women to rise up, embrace the truth of who they are, and not hide behind masks anymore.

“Through this book, I hope to inspire others to own their story, tell it like it is, and live with holy gumption,” she writes. “I am convinced that we are living in an unprecedented time, when we need the truth tellers to rise. We need space to be our whole selves, and then courage to create safe space for others to do the same.”

Ashley Abercrombie wore a mask more than half her life, and considers herself too old and too annoyed to ever put that thing on again. She has fought to overcome addiction, rape, abortion, perfectionism, and dysfunctional relationships to become an honest, whole, and free woman (most days) and has been in multicultural urban ministry and justice work or more than 15 years. During that time, she has taught Bible studies, classes, small groups, and workshops on reconciliation and justice, as well as Sunday services. Ashley is a content creator, and more than 200,000 people have completed her YouVersion Bible App devotional. She’s currently doing that work while serving at Liberty Church in downtown Manhattan. A blogger, writer, and speaker, Ashley lives with her husband, Cody, and their two sons in Harlem.

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Highlights:

  • Sharing your personal story takes courage!
  • Ashley ruthlessly encourages women to rise up, embrace the truth of who they are, and not hide behind masks anymore.
  • She wore a mask more than half her life, and considers herself too old and too annoyed to ever put that thing on again.

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105: Nicole Zasowski

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As a marriage and family therapist, one of Nicole Zasowski’s greatest joys is helping her clients grow in emotional freedom. What she couldn’t see for many years is that she was living her own life outside of that freedom, clinging to behaviors like shame, performance, and control in order to feel valued and safe.

It was only when she was confronted with her own devastating pain and loss that Nicole realized her current way of life was failing her. She then discovered that sometimes God’s rescue looks like prying our fingers off what we think we want so that we can receive what we truly need. And often, on the far side of pain we don’t prefer, we find transformation we would not trade.

In From Lost to Found, Nicole shares her story as she helps us

  • name what we fear losing most,
  • identify how our reactive behaviors are failing us,
  • discover what joy we can find in letting go, and
  • move forward in the freedom God has for us.

God is writing a story of redemption in your life too. Find out for yourself that sometimes the greatest joy is found when we are drained of all misplaced hope and shallow identities. In the midst of pain or transition, discover a surprising path to healing as you lose your grip on comfort and control—and fall right into God’s transformative grace.

 

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Highlights:

  • In our culture today, we often talk about feelings as if they are the truest part of ourselves… but they aren’t
  • We talk about behaviors like performance, control, and shame.
  • We talk about what we do to protect ourselves from pain.

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104: John Mark Comer

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The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

Please welcome John Mark Comer to the Thriving Beyond Belief podcast this week talking about our world of HURRY and how we can eliminate it!!

Author and Former Megachurch Pastor John Mark Comer Advocates a New Practice for Your Spiritual Life: Slowing Down

Our worst moments tend to happen when we are in a hurry—late for an appointment, behind on our to-do list, cramming too much in our day. It occurs when we’re trying constantly to do more, creating a bone-deep tiredness not just in our minds or bodies but deep in our souls. In short, hurry doesn’t just make us weary. It is the great enemy of our spiritual life.

Author and pastor John Mark Comer proposes that the solution to being fully present to God, others, and our own hearts is found simply by following the unhurried way of Jesus. He explains, “Jesus invites all of us to take up the ‘easy’ yoke. He has—on offer to all—an easy way to shoulder the weight of life with his triumvirate of love, joy, and peace.”

Comer’s journey to discovering the life-changing remedy of slowing down began while he was pastoring a successful megachurch with six services each Sunday, a marathon lifestyle which left him feeling burnt out and detached from those around him. In a moment of desperation, he asked his mentor, John Ortberg, for advice. The response he received was the same as what philosopher and Christian spiritual formation teacher Dallas Willard had given to Ortberg years before: “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life. There is nothing else.”

As Comer put this simple truth into practice in his own life, he experienced radical renewal in his mental, spiritual, and emotional well-being. The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry describes his transformation and offers hope amidst the toxicity in our fast-paced, modern world.

In a casual, conversational tone, he presents a poignant message: “This is an invitation—for all the tired, the burned out, the stressed, all those stuck in traffic and behind on their to-do list….If you want to experience the life of Jesus, you have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus.”

John Mark Comer lives, works, and writes in the urban core of Portland, Oregon. He is the pastor for teaching and vision at Bridgetown Church. Prior to that, he was lead pastor of a suburban megachurch. He has a master’s degree from Western Seminary and is the author of Loveology, Garden City, and God Has a Name. John Mark lives in Portland with his wife, Tammy, and their three children.

 

LISTEN ON ITUNES

Highlights:

  • Relying on the teachings and example of Jesus, Comer provides four down-to-earth practices for unhurrying your life:
  • silence and solitude
  • Sabbath
  • simplicity
  • slowing

Related Links:

 

103: Niki Hardy

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Please welcome Niki Hardy to the Thriving Beyond Belief podcast this week!!

Niki Hardy is a speaker and writer whose work has appeared in Christian Today and Living by Design Ministries and on Premier Radio. After leaving corporate life in London, she trained as a teacher at Kings College, London, before studying theology at Wycliffe, Oxford. She and her husband moved their family to the United States to plant CityChurch Charlotte, NC, where they now live with their three kids and two crazy Goldendoodles. A rectal (yes, rectal) cancer survivor, pastor’s wife, tea drinker, and teller of bad jokes, she’d love to connect with you at www.nikihardy.com if she can’t hug you in person.

Niki Hardy watched her mother pass away from cancer, and then her sister a few years later. When she herself was diagnosed just six weeks later it left her reeling, questioning, and merely surviving a life that bore no resemblance to the abundant life Jesus promises in the Bible, so she set out to find it.

In her new book, Breathe Again: How to Live Well When Life Falls Apart, Hardy unpacks seven practices to thrive, not just survive, no matter what life throws at us. Full of grit, humor and unvarnished stories from her own grief and rectal cancer journey, Hardy’s story and her Thriver Manifesto will help readers claim truths such as: I believe life doesn’t have to be pain-free to be full. I’ve got this because God’s got me, and together we can do more than I could ever do alone.  I step into vulnerable spaces with God and others, aware that my strength can be my biggest weakness. I practice gratitude in all things, confident that peace and well-being will follow.

I have learned to breathe again. “We’ve bought into the myth that a painful season can’t be full,” writes Hardy, “that a time of abundance isn’t challenging—and this, dear reader, gets my goat. I just don’t think it’s true, and this is exactly what this book is about: smashing this myth and inhaling all God has for us.”

LISTEN ON ITUNES

Highlights:

  • She was determined to survive
  • 5 step plan for trusting God: Choose brave, Be vulnerable, Seek out community, Embrace your circumstance, Attitude of gratitude and Reach out!
  • 7 practical ways to grasp the full life Jesus promises
  • Vulnerability helps us breathe again

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102: Shannon Stewart-Ratliff

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The first weekend in October at the Influence Her Conference 2019 near Sacramento, CA, I had the honor to speak alongside my friend Shannon Stewart Ratliff, Cheryl Broderson and Grace Broderson at Metro Calvary Church in Roseville, CA! We loved our time there and the amazing women we were able to speak into and meet!

This week on the Thriving Beyond Belief, I am playing the talk that Shannon did called  “Finding Yourself In A Selfie World.”

Her name is Shannon and she is head over heels in love with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Without Him she is nothing, but with Him, she is royalty-a King’s daughter, and she has a future and a hope. I do like cool, pretty pictures, but her desire when you visit her site is that you smell the love of Christ.

She’s a small-town girl, from Franklin, Ohio. Most of her childhood days were filled with her mom taking them to church, playing sports, traveling on vacation, and her trying to become a supermodel. Ha!

Her talk is so inspiring, encouraging, and life-giving! DO NOT MISS IT!

LISTEN ON ITUNES

Highlights:

  • Shannon wanted #1’s in her life, but God gave her #2’s
  • It was the Lord that gave Shannon:
  • Strength in weakness
  • Courage in sorrow
  • Comfort in pain
  • Truth in Loving Power!

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101: Emily Vogeltanz and Daniele Flickinger

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Mentoring is something we often talk about on the podcast because we know how critical it is as we grow in Christ, but it can also feel overwhelming. Today we’re excited to talk with Shelley Giglio’s team about the FLOURISH CURRICULUM!

FLOURISH is a yearlong mentoring journey based on Scripture and created in partnership with Passion City Church. After 6 years of development and leading more than 3,500 women through this mentoring journey, Passion is excited to release this unique resource to churches worldwide. This study will help you establish strong relationships between both mentors and mentees as they dig into understanding God’s truth and love through His Word together.

Links:

  • Our team is honored to provide videos, documents, and other valuable resources (for free!) to get you started on your mentoring journey as a church, small group, or individual. Visit FlourishMentor.com today!
  • Follow the journey of The Grove at Passion City Church at passioncitychurch.com/thegrove, instagram.com/pcc_thegrove, or check out The Grove Podcast wherever you listen to yours. Search “The Grove Passion” to tune in!
  • Ready to purchase a mentor or mentee book? Visit lifeway.com/flourish!

God has a real purpose for your life. All the time, that purpose is greater than ourselves. – @shelleygiglio #MARKEDpodcast

Features:

  • Extensive leadership guidance to make your mentoring journey practical and simple.
  • Personal study segments to complete over a year
  • Beautiful design to foster daily time in God’s Word
  • Specific goals and leader tips for each session
  • Devotional journal to guide you through 6 thematic sessions over the course of a year, diving deeper into topics of God’s Word, prayer, identity, calling, kinship, and gratitude
  • Mentor website with tools, coaching videos, and resources to help you start a FLOURISH program at your church

Benefits:

  • Develop a daily practice of spending time with God.
  • Connect with a younger woman, and study God’s Word together.
  • Grapple with spiritual concepts such as identity, calling, and more.
  • Consider how the stories of individuals fit into the larger redemption story God is writing.

Find valuable tools, videos and resources to help your churches, small groups, or individuals start their own mentoring journey at flourishmentor.com!

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Highlights:

  • Four distinct words in the curriculum:
  • Rooted in God’s Word
  • Flourish where we are planted
  • Freedom in Christ
  • Shade – Give your life away

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