Alan Fadling's Blog, page 5

UL #351: Daily Rhythms with Jesus (John Mark Comer)

 

What is the Christian life really about? And what is the church meant to be? These foundational questions often reveal how deeply our assumptions have been shaped by culture more than by Christ.

In this episode of the Unhurried Living Podcast, Alan Fadling shares a rich conversation with John Mark Comer, originally aired when his book Practicing the Way was newly released. John Mark is a teacher, writer, and founder of Practicing the Way and has spent years exploring what it means to be an apprentice of Jesus in the post-Christian West.

Formerly the founding pastor of Bridgetown Church in Portland, OR, John Mark now develops spiritual formation resources for churches worldwide. Together, we explore how spiritual disciplines form us not just for today, but for eternal living—and how church communities can reclaim the Way of Jesus in a distracted, fast-paced world.

 

 

Prayer Isn't Working?... Or Is It?

Blog by Alan Fadling

How do you respond when your prayer life feels dry? Do you ever wonder if you’re actually in touch with God or just saying words into the air? During seasons like that in my own life of prayer, I (Alan) have found a lot of help from a recent spiritual classic on the topic: When the Well Runs Dry by Thomas Green.

 

In it, Green explores what happens when prayer moves beyond our initial striving efforts and becomes more about receptivity and surrender. Have you ever felt like prayer is just you doing all the talking—or wondered where God is when the excitement fades? Where is God when our prayer feels too quiet? What assumptions might we need to revisit in moments like this? Let’s consider how prayer is less about effort and more about encounter.

 

On my eight-day silent retreat last summer, I took along a few of Thomas Green’s books to reread, including this one. He’s been a trustworthy guide, helping me to navigate a life of what the book’s subtitle calls “prayer beyond the beginnings.” I’ve found many books on prayer that help us get started. There are fewer books that provide guidance for some of the challenging places we may encounter on our journey of communion with God.

 

I’d like to share a couple of key insights from this book that helped me and that I believe will help you in your own deepening communion with God.

 

Prayer Is a Relationship

Green reminds us of the way many of us begin in prayer when he says, “Praying generally meant meditation, something we do, our activity of analyzing the gospel and making applications to our own life situation and resolutions as to how we would serve Christ better. It was all very good as far as it went, but it did not go far enough. Specifically, it did not allow for the possibility that prayer might become less and less what we do and more and more what God does in us.”*

 

When we begin, we assume that prayer is mostly something we do. We focus mostly on our activity, our words of request, our concerns expressed. We read and study the Bible. We meditate on what we see in scripture. We offer our concerns for others. We give thanks. We sing praise. And all of this is part of prayer—the human part.

 

It's good to remember that God is not a stoic and silent judge listening wordlessly to our testimony at the front of a courtroom. God is a loving and present Father listening closely to his daughters and sons.

 

Prayer is more conversation than monologue. In prayer, we learn that the Spirit is speaking to us personally through our reading and reflection on scripture. God is offering us guidance and counsel for our actual daily lives. God is leading us into truth—into reality. God is expressing his heart toward us. God is at work. Over time, we realize our praying is not mostly at our initiative but is in fact a growing receptivity and responsiveness to God’s initiative and work.

 

Sometimes God lets our prayer life grow dry to invite us to question some of our assumptions as beginners. Many of those assumptions have to do with our idea of the God to whom we pray. This leads to a second insight that is helpful for us to remember.

 

Our Image of God Is Not God

 Is that sentence intimidating? It doesn’t have to be. It’s good for us to acknowledge that our ideas of God will always be smaller and less perfect than the reality of who God is. We all have misguided ideas of God that God wants to refine.

 

On this theme, Green says that “the time will surely come when the well of our imagination runs dry and we must either be convinced that God is not the image we have of him or else we will take the loss of the image for the loss of God himself—and we will be tempted to abandon prayer as a hopeless endeavor.”†

 

Part of our life of prayer is growing to know God. In that, it helps us to acknowledge that none of us know God perfectly. Elton Trueblood, who was like the Dallas Willard of the mid-twentieth century, spoke about our need for “epistemological humility.”

 

Epistemology is a fancy word for the philosophy of how we know what we know, how knowing works, and what knowing is. In this regard, humility is being able to admit that we do not know everything. It’s being willing to say that we could be wrong. Too many people are proud instead of humble in their knowing. But since we are all imperfect in our knowledge of God, pride does us harm rather than good.

 

When it comes to prayer, we learn that the God to whom we were praying in our early years may not be as true an image of God as we thought. My own early vision of God was one that was more angry than kind, more impatient than patient, more harsh than gentle. Again, when our prayer life runs dry, we start asking questions we didn’t when prayer felt like it was going okay.

 

In the dryness, I may begin to question an image of God I’ve been clinging to. Losing that image isn’t losing God, but losing some of my unhelpful assumptions about God. That turns out to be good news—hard but good.

 

A dry season in which my doubts feel stronger than my trust is an invitation to rediscover the God who is always seeking to make himself known to us. Instead of losing God and giving up on prayer in those seasons, we are called to be receptive and responsive, open to what God wishes to say or show to us. 

 

When our prayer well runs dry, it may be that God is replacing our old images of who he is by inviting us to know him more truly. Prayer that once felt full and active may now feel quiet and bare—but that quiet can be holy ground. We’re not being abandoned in these moments; rather, we’re being invited to release our grip on certainty, to surrender assumptions, and to open ourselves afresh to the God who is more loving, more present, and more mysterious than we first imagined. Dryness can become a threshold—not an ending but a deepening.

 

For Reflection:

What image of God might be quietly loosening its hold on you in a season of dryness? How might God be inviting you into a truer knowing of him?
In what ways might you shift from striving in prayer to a posture of receptivity—trusting that God is already at work in the silence?

 

 

*Thomas H. Green, When the Well Runs Dry (Ave Maria Press, 1979), p. 11.

† Green, p. 20.

 

 

UL #350: Soulful Leadership: Creating Culture From the Inside Out (Ed McManness and Matt Fogle)

 

What happens when the deep inner work of spiritual formation begins to shape the way we lead others? In this episode, Gem welcomes Ed McManness, General Director of Frontier Ventures, and Matt Fogle, Chief Development Officer at Frontier Ventures, for a rich conversation at the intersection of soul care and leadership.

 

As leaders, it's easy to focus solely on strategy, productivity, and results—but what if transformation into Christlikeness was the foundation of our leadership? Ed and Matt share stories from their own journeys, offer practical wisdom for cultivating healthy organizational cultures, and reflect on how to lead from a place of abiding rather than striving.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How spiritual formation can directly impact leadership decisions

Practices for fostering presence over pressure in your leadership

Rhythms and boundaries that protect leaders from burnout

How to shape a spiritually formative organizational culture—even in the face of resistance

 

About Our Guests:
Ed McManness is the General Director of Frontier Ventures, a mission organization serving global leaders who bring the gospel to the least reached. His leadership is rooted in decades of experience and a deep commitment to spiritual formation.

Matt Fogle serves as Chief Development Officer at Frontier Ventures and is also a Soul Care Guide with Unhurried Living. Matt is passionate about helping leaders thrive through emotionally healthy and spiritually grounded practices.

If you're a leader longing to align your inner life with your outer leadership, this episode will speak directly to your journey.

 

 

UL #350: Surprising Cure for Burnout (Ed McManness and Matt Fogle)

 

What happens when the deep inner work of spiritual formation begins to shape the way we lead others? In this episode, Gem welcomes Ed McManness, General Director of Frontier Ventures, and Matt Fogle, Chief Development Officer at Frontier Ventures, for a rich conversation at the intersection of soul care and leadership.

 

As leaders, it's easy to focus solely on strategy, productivity, and results—but what if transformation into Christlikeness was the foundation of our leadership? Ed and Matt share stories from their own journeys, offer practical wisdom for cultivating healthy organizational cultures, and reflect on how to lead from a place of abiding rather than striving.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

How spiritual formation can directly impact leadership decisions

Practices for fostering presence over pressure in your leadership

Rhythms and boundaries that protect leaders from burnout

How to shape a spiritually formative organizational culture—even in the face of resistance

 

About Our Guests:
Ed McManness is the General Director of Frontier Ventures, a mission organization serving global leaders who bring the gospel to the least reached. His leadership is rooted in decades of experience and a deep commitment to spiritual formation.

Matt Fogle serves as Chief Development Officer at Frontier Ventures and is also a Soul Care Guide with Unhurried Living. Matt is passionate about helping leaders thrive through emotionally healthy and spiritually grounded practices.

If you're a leader longing to align your inner life with your outer leadership, this episode will speak directly to your journey.

 

Lead From the Inside Out: Why Your Inner Life Matters More Than Your Methods

Blog by Gem Fadling

In our PACE leadership and spiritual formation training, our friend and colleague Matt Fogle leads a beautiful session on congruence. We talk about this in many ways at Unhurried Living—our inner and outer lives must match. This is one of the heartbeats of healthy, authentic spiritual leadership.

 

This is the central flow of John 15 to which we often point. Jesus, the vine, invites us to remain or abide in him. From that central connection, fruit does emerge. But the emphasis for each of us is on the abiding, not the producing. Yes, fruit that lasts bursts forth, but only because the branch remains on the vine.

 

I carry this idea deep within me. If you only learned one thing from me, this would be at the top of the list. There is a flow from God to me, within me, and then through me.

 

How do I remain aware of and connected to this holy process?

 Spiritual formation is the process by which we are changed into the image of Christ. In my early years as a Christian, we called this discipleship. But whatever you call it, it involves the actual transformation of the person, not the mere adding of knowledge.

 

Many people are willing to settle for knowledge and to consider that “growth.” Sure, we must gain knowledge to learn. But this is only the beginning of the process. Without life experience, our knowledge cannot become wisdom—lived grace. Our real invitation is to change. This is such good news. I get to change! I don’t have to stay within my weaknesses, blind spots, and sins.

 

Philippians 1:6 rises to the surface: “He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” This is the God-initiated process in which I live, and I am so thankful for it.

 

In Matt’s talk on congruence, he shares one of the most meaningful quotes I have ever heard on the importance of our inner life in prayer. It’s from E. M. Bounds:

 

“The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better men [and women]. . . . What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men [and women] whom the Holy Spirit can use—[people] of prayer, [people] mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through [people]. He does not come on machinery, but on [people]. He does not anoint plans, but [people]—[people] of prayer.” (“Power Through Prayer,” in The Complete Works of E. M. Bounds on Prayer, p. 447)

 

This excerpt highlights the importance not of methods and what Bounds calls “machinery,” but of real people who pray and cooperate with the flow of the Holy Spirit. This is the organic way God moves.

 

Even though I may be part of a structure (which at this point is the organization known as Unhurried Living), it is really Alan, me, and our team who are the heart of the structure. We are people, and what you experience from Unhurried Living comes from our lived experience with God. We are trying to share all the goodness and wisdom God has granted us over the course of our adult lives.

 

I’ve run into trouble whenever I’ve placed the structure of Unhurried Living at the center. This is when I become anxious, stressed, overly ambitious, and competitive. That is not how I desire to live my life. Yet when I remember that we are simply human beings trying to love and serve other human beings, my heart slows its pace, and I reconnect with my truest desire—loving and serving others with gladness and singleness of heart.

 

It can be tempting to attach to machinery (structures) and methods because those things seem easier to quantify and manage. But real formation in people’s lives is messy, indirect, and requires patience.

 

Paul beautifully describes all of us, connected to the Spirit, at our best:

 “The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Who ever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he’s thinking, but he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us. We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. We didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we’re passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.” (1 Cor. 2:10-13 MSG)

 

The Spirit, from the depths, shares with us God’s heart. The three persons of the Trinity let us in on their life and gifts to us. We learn from the Trinity and then we pass it along. This is central to spiritual leadership. God teaches us directly through the life of Jesus. We follow him, become like him, and pass on the best of this connection in our interactions and influence.

 

For Reflection: 

There is a flow from God to me, within me, and then through How do I remain aware of and connected to this holy process?
Ponder the contrast Bounds sets up between machinery and methods and people of prayer. How are you inspired by this? How might it influence your focus?
How does 1 Corinthians 2:10-13 encourage you today? How might you pass along what you’ve been given by God?

 

 

UL #349: How to Find Grace in the Wilderness (Alan w/ Andrew Anrdt)

 

What if the gospel is not just about someday, but about today—right here in the holy ordinary? In this episode, Alan welcomes pastor and author Andrew Arndt to talk about his new book, A Strange and Gracious Light. Rooted in the rhythms of the church calendar, Andrew’s book is an invitation to encounter Jesus afresh—not just as a message we proclaim but as a presence we inhabit.

 

Together, Alan and Andrew explore how disorientation, waiting, and mystery can become sacred spaces for formation. It’s a conversation for those feeling weary, disconnected, or quietly hopeful—offering a fresh way to see your story illuminated by the strange and gracious light of Christ.

 

3 Takeaways from this Episode:

The church calendar can be a gentle guide to reenter the gospel story with fresh eyes and renewed soul connection.

Seasons of uncertainty and suffering may be strange—but they are often filled with quiet grace and deeper formation.

Leading from a place of surrender, rather than striving, opens the way for a more grounded and grace-filled life of service.

 

About Andrew Arndt:
Andrew Arndt is the lead pastor of New Life East in Colorado Springs and host of the Essential Church podcast. A trusted voice for thoughtful Christian leaders, he brings a rich blend of theological depth, pastoral sensitivity, and contemplative wisdom to his writing and leadership.

 

 

 

How to Recognize the Voice That Brings You Life

Blog by Alan Fadling

There is a common metaphor the church has drawn from scripture that helps me keep the living presence of Christ at the center. The challenge, however, is that the metaphor can seem so familiar that it ceases to inspire or encourage us.

 

What’s the metaphor? Consider a couple familiar verses from scripture:

 

Psalm 23 begins with the words “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

 

Jesus uses this same image in John 10:11 when he says, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”

 

Again, the challenge is that the image of God or Jesus as shepherd has become overly familiar for many of us with longtime church experience. I fear it’s a familiarity that breeds contempt for too many of us.

 

Or perhaps familiarity isn’t the problem, but instead it’s our unfamiliarity with the day-to-day reality of the life of a shepherd.

 

If you were to review your networks on Facebook or Instagram or LinkedIn, how many working shepherds do you know? If you’re like me, the answer is “none.” Most of us have never lived in spaces where someone we know is actively involved in the job of shepherding.

 

So, we may need to acknowledge the challenge of our unfamiliarity and let the metaphor speak fresh insight into our life.

 

It might help us to look at the image of Jesus as shepherd with fresh eyes and remember that in this life of faith we are never alone. Ever.

 

As John chapter 10 opens, Jesus has been arguing with the Jewish leaders who were questioning his healing of the blind man in chapter 9. Read the first six verses and imagine Jesus advocating for the man he has healed. Contrast that with the Jewish leaders who wanted to reject the good thing Jesus has done.

 

“Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them.

 

So far we see a few key characters: A thief. A robber. A shepherd. A gatekeeper. Sheep. A stranger.

 

Though the Pharisees aren’t catching what Jesus is throwing their way, they are the thieves and robbers and the strangers to God’s way. They claim to be speaking for God, but they want to rob the blind man of the gift of grace God has given him. They claim to represent God, but they reject the one who proves by his life that he speaks for God.

 

There is a way of envisioning a life of faith that is opposed to God rather than aligned with God. Jesus knows this, but the Jewish leaders don’t seem to.

 

They want to brand Jesus as ignorant, dishonest, or even deranged. But Jesus has come to be a shepherd to people who will let him. He wants to guide people into the good life. He wants to protect people from lasting harm. He wants to provide people what they need. That’s what good shepherds do. And the Jewish leaders have failed to do this for their followers—their “sheep.”

 

So Jesus is the good shepherd. He proves himself by exercising the power of God to heal a blind man. Jesus speaks words that have wisdom greater than the academic theology of the Jewish leaders.

 

The image of Jesus as the good shepherd tells us that he is always with us as his sheep. We need him, and he’s very happy to be with us. He lays down his life for us—not just in the past but in every moment. He comes to serve us, and we respond with love and trust.

 

Consider John 10:3-4 once again: 

“The gatekeeper opens the gate for [the good shepherd], and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.”

 

I am one of the sheep Jesus is shepherding. I listen to his voice. Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “the sheep read his Word.” I do that, daily and gratefully, but here I’m reminded that the Christian life is listening to the living voice of my ever-present and good shepherd. Jesus is with me and is speaking with me. The scriptures are living and active because Jesus is alive and at work.

 

And Jesus knows me by name. When he speaks, it’s not just a generic message for anyone. Jesus speaks to me. He wants to lead me out into good places and good work. Instead of driving me from behind, he leads out ahead. I go out with my Shepherd. I’ve learned to recognize his voice, and I’ve learned to recognize the voice of the stranger. This comes naturally for sheep, and I hope I’m at least a little smarter than a sheep.

 

In all of this, the good news is that I’m never alone in seeking to live a life of trust in Jesus.

 

What lies at the heart of the Christian life is a deep and ongoing relationship with Jesus as our good shepherd. It’s a relationship that we express in countless ways in our lives, our relationships, and our work.

 

I’d love to hear how this resonates with you. What does it mean to you that Jesus calls you by name, leads you out, and walks with you in this life of faith? Feel free to reply to this email with your thoughts, reflections, or questions. Let’s keep this conversation alive together.

 

For Reflection:

Where am I most in need of hearing the Shepherd’s voice today?
How can I practice listening rather than striving this week?
What might change if I trusted Jesus’ leading instead of my own plans?

UL #348: Feeling Spiritually Numb? You’re Not Failing—You’re Being Invited w/Kyle Norman

 

Have you ever sat in church, said your prayers, and still felt... nothing? Like your faith was stuck in neutral? You’re not alone—and you’re not broken. In this deeply honest episode, Reverend Dr. Kyle Norman shares how his wife’s cancer diagnosis led him into one of the darkest seasons of his life, shaking the very foundations of his faith. But instead of giving up, he discovered something unexpected: God hadn’t left. In fact, Jesus was closer than ever—meeting him not in strength, but in surrender.

If your spiritual life feels dry, discouraging, or just plain confusing, this conversation is here to remind you: your struggle is not a sign of failure. It may be an invitation to meet Jesus in a deeper, more personal way than you ever have before.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

Why spiritual numbness doesn’t mean you’ve failed

How to reframe discouragement as sacred invitation

Real stories from scripture of people who wrestled with their faith

What it means to find “holy ground” in moments of disappointment

One simple but powerful practice to reconnect with God right where you are

Meet the Guest:

Reverend Dr. Kyle Norman is the rector of St. Paul’s Anglican Cathedral in Kamloops, British Columbia. He holds a Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Formation and is the author of Alive, Loved & Free: A Spiritual Journey of Coming Home. Kyle is passionate about helping others experience the real, living presence of God—even (and especially) in the midst of life’s deepest struggles.

Connect with Kyle:

Website: kylenorman.ca

Instagram: @revkylenorman

Book: Alive, Loved & Free – available wherever books are sold

 

 

8 Powerful Qualities to Help You Lead with Wisdom and Love

Blog by Gem Fadling

I have never been more convinced that now is the time for goodness. If you track with us here at Unhurried Living, I already know you to be a good person.

 

I’m suggesting we double down on our intentionality in being and doing good. Not in a legalistic, machinelike way, but in a heart forward, leaning in, Kingdom ways posture.

 

It can be overwhelming to see all that is occurring planet-wide. Yes, we can pray. But remember, our bodies, hearts, and minds were built for smaller communities.

 

So that means you have permission to bring yourself in smaller to where you actually live. Your prayerful heart can offer worldwide prayers to the God of the universe AND you can engage thoughtfully and intentionally right where you are.

 

Engage in your own stress reduction by focusing closer to home when it comes to news and involvement. It’s okay to let some things go so that you can focus your energy on offering goodness to those around you.

 

I’ve been struck by the words of 2 Peter 1:5-9 from The Message:

 “So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can’t see what’s right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.”

 

This is such a beautiful and practical list of goodness: 

Basic faith
Good character
Spiritual understanding
Alert discipline
Passionate patience
Reverent wonder
Warm friendliness
Generous love

 

And Peter is saying that each of these builds on the other and results in becoming more “mature in your experience of our Master Jesus.”

 

And isn’t that what the people around you and the world really needs? Mature adults experiencing and expressing the love and ways of Jesus.

 

I know you to be a serious-minded, heart-forward lover of Jesus.

 

And here at Unhurried Living we want nothing more than to encourage you to live what you believe—and not be overwhelmed and stressed while doing so.

 

We are invited into goodness—to receive it, live it, and share it.

 

For Reflection: 

What might leaning into goodness look like in your own life?
How might you give attention to the invitations within 2 Peter? Allow yourself to be creative and practical as you ponder.
Spend a little time releasing your cares to God. You don’t have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.

UL #347: From Doing to Being w/ John Eldredge

 

Faith often becomes a checklist—prayer, scripture study, ministry—rather than a living, breathing relationship with Jesus. In this episode of the Unhurried Living Podcast, Alan Fadling speaks with bestselling author and teacher John Eldredge about shifting from a performance-based spiritual life to one rooted in presence, intimacy, and encounter.

We talk about how to slow down in a world that values hustle, how to rediscover wonder in the midst of cynicism, and how to create personal rhythms that foster authentic connection with Jesus. If you long to experience Jesus—really—this conversation is for you.

John’s latest book, Experience Jesus—Really., invites readers into a deeper awareness of God’s presence and shows how to move from knowing about God to actually knowing Him in relationship.

Whether you feel spiritually dry, distracted by life’s pace, or just want to deepen your walk with Christ, this episode offers practical wisdom and hopeful encouragement.

Guest Bio:

John Eldredge is a bestselling author, counselor, and the president of Wild at Heart, a ministry devoted to helping people discover the heart of God and live more fully in His Kingdom. His books, including Wild at Heart, Beautiful Outlaw, and Get Your Life Back, have guided millions toward a more vibrant and personal walk with God. Through his teaching, writing, and podcasting, John invites people to experience God not as a distant figure, but as a present and personal friend.

Connect with John Eldredge:

🌐 Website: https://wildatheart.org
📘 Book: Experience Jesus—Really. available wherever books are sold
🎙️ Podcast: Wild at Heart Podcast
📸 Instagram: @wildatheart
📺 YouTube: Wild at Heart YouTube Channel