Overview Today, Bishop Emilio Alvarez joins the podcast. Currently, he is an adjunct professor at Asbury Seminary and serves as the Primate of the Union of Charismatic Orthodox Churches. He is also the founder and Rector of The Cathedral at Gathering Place in the city of Rochester, New York, as well as The Institute for Paleo-Orthodox Christian Studies. Bishop Alvarez has a forthcoming book with InterVaristy Press, titled "Towards A Pentecostal Orthodoxy" (2021) and is also a contributor to the forthcoming IVP liturgical series, "The Fullness of Time: A Journey Through the Church Year" (2022). In this conversation, we talk about his faith journey, calling, why he’s passionate about training clergy and laity to worship, believe and live our faith in integrated practical ways. And, of course, we talk about his new book. Let's listen!

Thrive With Asbury Seminary

Rev. Dr. Emilio Alvarez: Living an Integrated Faith

Overview Donna Burske, Senior Chaplain for AdventHealth Medical Group, M.Div. grad, and current D.Min. student, joins the Thrive with Asbury Seminary Podcast today. She provides pastoral care to a 4,000 person congregation composed of doctors, nurses, physician assistants and staff. As she integrates her faith with her work, she provides a listening ear, a non-anxious presence and spiritual care for those who are working on the front lines to heal others. In today’s conversation, we talk about her calling, heart to serve others and explore her dissertation research that is finding ways to equip health care workers to become spiritual ambassadors, so that they can find a deeper meaning in their work, and provide whole person care to others. Let's listen!

Donna Burske: Integrating Faith and Work

Overview Today on the podcast, Dr. Brian Russell, award-winning professor of biblical studies and former dean at Asbury Theological Seminary, as well as a transformation coach for pastors and spiritually-minded professionals, joined the podcast. He is the author of several books, with his most recent being “Centering Prayer: Sitting Quietly in God’s Presence Can Change Your Life” and is the host of the Deep Dive Spirituality Conversations podcast. In today’s conversation, Brian talks about his new book “Centering Prayer: Sitting Quietly in God’s Presence Can Change Your Life.” We talk about what centering prayer is, how this practice has helped Brian grow deeper in his relationship with the Lord, some of the gifts he’s received as a result, and how we can start our own journey with this practice. Brian would love to meet you and your group study virtually! When you buy 15 or more copies of his book for a group study, email him at deepdivespirituality@gmail.com. For the first 10 people to do so, he’ll reply and set up a time to meet you and your group virtually, lead you through a time of centering prayer and do a brief Q&A session. His book can be purchased on Amazon and we’ll link to everything in the show notes. Let's listen!

Dr. Brian Russell: Centering Prayer

Overview Today on the podcast, we’re joined by Dr. Luther Oconer, Associate Professor of Global Wesleyan Theology on the Florida Dunnam Campus. Dr. Oconer teachers in the area of United Methodist studies, the Holiness Movement, Pentecostal/Charismatic Movement, and church renewal. He has written several book chapters and journal articles on the history of global Methodism, the intersection between revival and missions, and the connections between Methodism and Pentecostalism. In 2017, he published "Spirit-Filled Protestantism: Holiness-Pentecostal Revivals and the Making of Filipino Methodist Identity." It was awarded the Wesleyan Theological Society’s Timothy L. Smith and Mildred Bangs Wynkoop Book of the Year Award in 2018. In today’s conversation, we talk about his story of calling and revival, what revival means for us and how we can join God in the work he is doing around the world. Let’s listen!

Dr. Luther Oconer: Theology & Revival

Overview Today Bud Simon, current Ph.D. student at Asbury Seminary and consultant with TMS Global, and Dr. Jay Moon, Professor of Church Planting and Evangelism at the Seminary, join the podcast. Bud and his family served for 20 years as church planters in Brazil and Dr. Moon spent 13 years in Ghana, Africa. In today’s conversation we talk about their recently released book Effective Intercultural Evangelism: Good News in a Diverse World. They talk us through four common worldviews, how to recognize and engage those who may think differently through conversation and friendship. They even developed an app to help us do that!! Jesus meets all needs, so we also talk about why it’s so important to present the Gospel message in a way that makes sense to our friends and our neighbors, right next door and around the world. Thanks to their generosity, listeners of the show receive a 30% discount when you order their book Effective Intercultural Evangelism: Good News in a Diverse World at IVPress.com and use the code EVANG21. Let’s listen!

Bud Simon and Dr. Jay Moon: Effective Intercultural Evangelism

Overview Drs. Craig and Médine Keener join the podcast today. Médine holds a Ph.D. from University of Paris 7 and is Community Formation and Pastoral Care Coordinator at Asbury Seminary. Craig is the F.M. and Ada Thompson Professor of Biblical Studies, also at the Seminary. He has authored more than 30 books, several of which have won awards and altogether have sold more than one million copies. Craig and Médine co-authored Impossible Love: The True Story of an African Civil War and Hope Against All Odds. The book talks about how Médine lived as a refugee in the Congo for 18 months while Craig waited, not knowing if she were dead or alive. In today’s conversation, they share about her war experience, romance and how God provided healing and wholeness. Let’s listen!

Drs. Craig and Médine Keener: Impossible Love

Overview Dr. Russell Hall, Associate Professor of Counselor Education in the Department of Counseling and Pastoral Care at Asbury Seminary, joins the Thrive with Asbury Podcast this week. He is a licensed psychologist who specializes in trauma treatment, internalizing disorders, and developmental psychopathology. Dr. Hall began his clinical career in community mental health with experience working with severe mental illness in state mental health hospitals, competency and criminal responsibility evaluations in the Kentucky state prison system, school counseling and education evaluations, and as a child & family psychologist in outpatient settings. He became Director of Training in the Department of Counseling and Pastoral Care at Asbury Seminary in 2011. In addition to administrating the field placement program, Dr. Hall expanded the department's expertise and student training opportunities in child pathology and counseling. In 2017, he co-founded the Van Tatenhove Center for Counseling, a training clinic that provides counseling services to the Asbury Seminary community. He also maintains a small, private practice. In today’s conversation, we talk about career, calling, counseling, all the things, so you won’t want to miss this encouraging episode. Let’s listen!

Dr. Russell Hall: Career, Calling and Counseling

Overview Today on the podcast, we’re joined by Callie and Rosario Picardo. Roz is an M.Div. alum of Asbury Seminary and a church planter. He currently serves as Director of Houses of Study at United Theological Seminary and co-pastor of Mosaic Church, a multiethnic church he started in 2017. He also teaches in the masters and doctoral programs at United and is the founder of Picardo Coaching LLC. His wife Callie is Vice President for Development at United Theological Seminary and has spent her career in finance and fundraising. She is a member of the preaching team at Mosaic and is the founder of Deep Roots Financial Coaching. Roz and Callie have been married 11 years and are raising 3 awesome daughters. Money Talks, that released July 5 is their first book together. It provides a biblical take on money and how Christians are called to operate in a world where money often takes center stage. It provides wisdom around God’s view of things like spending, earning, saving and giving differently. And thanks to the generosity of Roz and Callie, listeners of this show receive a special 20% discount when you purchase the book from Market Square Books with the code 20mtalk. That’s 20mtalk for 20% off their book Money Talks. So you’ll want to be sure to grab a copy of that and we’ll link all the links for you in the show notes. So now let’s listen to my conversation with Callie and Roz!

Rosario and Callie Picardo: Money Talks

Overview Today on the podcast, I’m joined by Deanna Lynn and Kristina Osborne. Together they authored and ghost-wrote Integrated: Living Beyond the Sex Trade. In a previous episode of Thrive, Deanna shares her story of how she overcame her traumatic upbringing that eventually led to her escaping a 10-year career in the sex industry. Upon exiting the industry, she found Refuge for Women, a place she can heal specifically from the trauma of exploitation. After graduating from their program in 2012, she earned a master's degree from Asbury Seminary and has authored two books. The second, "Integrated," I already mentioned and the first is Purchased: Leaving the Sex Trade. Each book details a piece of Deanna’s story. Kristina is also an alum of Asbury Seminary, as well as Asbury University. She now serves as an associate pastor of Embrace Church in Lexington, Ky. In addition to fulfilling her pastoral calling in the diverse and loving community of Embrace, she also lives out her calling to be a storyteller for the kingdom through her own original music. She processes and proclaims her faith in a singer-songwriter style, which is vocal and acoustic driven, layered with scripture references and personal experiences. Her most recent release, Once More Arise, includes topics such as Eucharist, rest, waiting and lament. Kristina also partners with others as she did with Deanna to share their stories through ghostwriting and she shares the story of God as a preacher and speaker in worshipping communities at retreats and conferences. In today’s conversation, we talk about Deanna’s new book "Integrated: Living Beyond the Sex Trade," Kristina’s new EP, "Once More Arise," how Kristina’s and Deanna’s lives intertwined so that this book became their next right thing and what it means to engage in practices that help us live integrated lives so we can be truly free. Let’s listen!

John Carroll: Discipleship & Relationship

Overview Today on the podcast, I got to talk to John Carroll. John is an Asbury Seminary alum and has served in the local church for over ten years in many areas including youth ministry, spiritual formation and teaching pastor. Currently, John is the Director of the School of Kingdom Living for Dallas Willard Ministries. His heartbeat includes the two “ships” in life: Discipleship and Relationship. In today’s conversation, we talk about John’s calling, how that calling grew his faith as each step built knew knowledge, what it means to means to be an apprentice of Jesus and how we can incorporate some of these practices into our own lives. Let’s listen!

Overview Dr. Winfield Bevins and Dr. Mark Dunwoody, co-founders of Missional Formation Coaching, joined the podcast today. Together, they have more than four decades of experience training and coaching leaders from around the world. They’ve crafted online courses, personal coaching and innovative resources that connect spiritual practices with missional practices to promote healthy rhythms that can be accessed by anyone, anywhere in the world. In today’s conversation, we talk about how Mark and Winfield met, ways we can find new beginnings in an ever-changing world, their new book Healthy Rhythms for Leaders: Cultivating Soul Care in Uncertain Times, and ways we can begin incorporating lifegiving rhythms into our daily lives. Let’s listen!  

Drs. Mark Dunwoody and Winfield Bevins: Missional Formation Coaching

Overview Today on the podcast, I got to talk to Rev. Teddy Ray, Asbury Seminary alum, co-owner of North Lime Coffee and Donuts and lead pastor of the Offerings Community of First United Methodist Church in Lexington, Ky. You may recall that Teddy Ray joined the podcast for Episode 7 to talk about finding calling within community and gave us ways to delight in our one ordinary life. We’ll link it in the show notes, so you can go back and listen if you would like. Teddy Ray has pastored at Offerings for the past 20 years, but in early 2020 felt a restlessness like never before and sensed that the season of pastoring might be coming to an end. In today’s conversation, we talk about how he discovered his next right thing—studying to become a lawyer at Yale Law School. Let’s listen!  

Rev. Teddy Ray: The Next Right Step

Overview Today on the podcast, I had the privilege of talking to Rev. Dr. Cynthia Davis, Mississippi River District Superintendent. Dr. Davis served as a nurse for 24 years and later as a nursing instructor. For almost half of her nursing career, she also served as a bi-vocational pastor. She is a lifelong learner and in 2005, she received her Doctor of Ministry degree with her dissertation focusing on “The Black Church and Public Health.” We talk about her sense of calling from the time she was a child, her work as a nurse and pastor and the relationship between faith, health and wholeness of the body, mind and spirit. Let’s listen!  

Rev. Dr. Cynthia Davis: Wholeness of Body, Mind and Spirit

Overview Today on the podcast, I got to talk to Dr. Sue Russell, Professor of Mission and Contextual Studies at Asbury Seminary. Prior to coming to the Seminary, Dr. Russell was the Associate Professor of Anthropology and the Chair of the Department of Anthropology at Biola University. And before that, she spent 17 years in cross-cultural ministry and field research with Wycliffe Bible Translators in S.E. Asia, where she worked with a committee of national pastors to complete the translation of the whole Bible into the Tagal language. We talk about a lot of things, including her call to ministry and her book Relationshift: Changing the Conversation about Men and Women in the Church. This book focuses on relationships, specifically brother-sister type relationships that are based on love, humility and mutuality, rather than specific roles. We talk about what that means and what that can look like in our context. Let’s listen!

Dr. A. Sue Russell: Relationshift

Overview Today on the podcast, I got to talk to Dr. Matthew Sleeth. Dr. Sleeth is a former ER physician and chief of the hospital medical staff. He resigned from that position to teach, preach and write about faith and stewardship issues. Dr. Sleeth is a widely sought after speaker and was recognized by "Newsweek" as one of the nation’s most influential Christian leaders. Dr. Sleeth is the executive director of Blessed Earth and author of numerous articles and books. He and his wife, Nancy, live nearby in Lexington, Ky. In today’s conversation, Dr. Sleeth and I talk about his new book "Hope Always" that releases on May 4. So we’ll link it in the show notes, but go ahead and grab a copy of that, so you’ll have it on release day. In this book, Dr. Sleeth shares from the position of a physician and minister. He shares his personal and professional experiences with depression and suicide, challenging Christians to become part of the solution. With sound medical principles finding their rightful place beside timeless biblical wisdom, "Hope Always" offers practical and spiritual tools for individuals, families and churches to help loved ones who are stressed and struggling. If you or someone you know is struggling with depression and suicide this conversation offers practical resources and hope. One resource that I want to be sure to mention is the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. That number is 800-273-8255 (TALK). It provides free and confidential, 24/7 support for people in distress and offers resources for you, your loved ones and best practices for professionals. Let’s listen!

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Thrive With Asbury Seminary

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