Family Fest Speaker Podcast

Kent McDonald - WWJ19 Talk #5 -Reflect God

The Christian life is not meant to be lived in a comfortable way. We are meant to be uncomfortable, to step into the lives of the messy and broken. When God wraps his arms around us, we can change the world.

 

Scripture: Mark 6: 45

Dan Wolpert - SS18 Talk #1 - What are the activities and practices that help us manifest the things that Jesus asks us to do?

We understand that God desires for goodness in the world. We want to relate both to ourselves and to God so that the good things that God desires become more manifest in the world. We can do this with two basic activities that form the foundation of a spiritual life and community: silence and listening. Prayer is the act of listening and paying attention to God.

Scripture: Matthew 5:43-47

Dan Wolpert - SS18 Talk #2 - What is the nature of the human being?

As humans, we sort information into three categories, information we like, information we don’t like and information we ignore. We create bubbles that form our reality and we hold on to our bubbles at all costs. The basic goal of a spiritual life is to get out of the bubble. God has designed us in such a way that if we engage in spiritual practices, the bubble begins to break down. We can have an experience of God, when existential fear begins to go away and we open ourselves to take a stance in the real world. We become more human; this image of the divine that God has placed in us starts to come out.

Dan Wolpert - SS18 Talk #3 - God lives is an infinity that's all around us all the time.

We're a prisoner of what our tribal bubble world tells us to do and when we attempt to step out of that, we feel dissonance and fear. As we connect more deeply with God, we have a greater sense of confidence to do the things that are life-giving, even if it runs counter to what most of the rest of the world is doing. That presence of God in our lives, that life-giving spirit, is always there supporting us.

Dan Wolpert - SS18 Talk #5 - What is the problem that God is trying to solve?

We all experience basic alienation; separation from ourselves, separation from each other and, ultimately, separation from the divine. God has this incredible compassion and love for us that God is trying to fix that alienation. The essence of spiritual community is to engage in practices that allow our bubbles to disappear. Entering deeply into a life of prayer is entering into a darkness where we experience nothing and we know nothing so that we may find love and knowledge that is beyond all of what we know and what we experience.

Dan Wolpert - SS18 Talk #4 - Life giving and death dealing

Ignatius of Loyola gives us the Examination of Spirits, a reflection of our day using two very simple questions: “Where did I notice Fruits of God's Spirit” and “Where did I notice Fruits of spirits that were not of God?” Each one of us experiences life-givingness and death-dealingness in our own unique way by how God has formed us. By looking backwards, we can begin to understand how God is working in our life and that will help us make decisions going forwards.

Dan Wolpert - SS18 Talk #6 - Love your enemies

When we allow ourselves to let go of our sense of outcomes and expectations, we are able to engage deeply in a life of faith. This allows us to venture out into the world, away from our bubbles, in a courageous way. As we engage others in a loving way we begin to take the words of Jesus seriously: to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us so that we may become children of God.

Allen Arnold - WWF18 Talk #1 - Invitation to the Journey

Family Fest Winter Weekend - February 2018. Saturday Morning presentation - Allen Arnold- Invitation to the Journey. Passing out of Adventure Journals. Jeremiah 33:3 "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." Allen Arnold invites you to discover what is makes your life mythic and epic. He delves into what's missing from your lives, why it matters and how to learn who you truly are.

Allen Arnold - WWF18 Talk #2 - Orphan Realm, Freedom Realm

Family Fest Winter Weekend - February 2018. Saturday Evening presentation - Allen Arnold-Orphan Realm, Freedom Realm. Allen Arnold introduces two realms of where we exsist and how we view our lives, the Orphan Realm and the Freedom Realm. In the Orphan Realm you feel overwhelmed, isolated, weary, always striving for validation. In the Freedom Realm, you let go of the illusion of control, you walk through life with God and without guarantees.

Allen Arnold - WWF18 Talk #3 - Desires of Our Heart

Family Fest Winter Weekend - February 2018. Sunday Morning presentation - Allen Arnold-Desires of our Heart. God is inviting us into more, into an adventure with him. What does it look like to step activiely and intimately into each day with God? When you discover your truest identity, people and projects lose thier power to limit and define you.