271 episodes

A place for honest and unhurried conversations about interactive life with God. Hosted by Nathan Foster from Renovaré, a nonprofit that offers resources, events, and learning communities to help people become more like Jesus. Learn more at renovare.org.

Life with God: A Renovaré Podcast Renovaré

    • Religion & Spirituality
    • 4.7 • 318 Ratings

A place for honest and unhurried conversations about interactive life with God. Hosted by Nathan Foster from Renovaré, a nonprofit that offers resources, events, and learning communities to help people become more like Jesus. Learn more at renovare.org.

    Trevor Hudson — Desmond Tutu

    Trevor Hudson — Desmond Tutu

    Trevor Hudson shares reflections on the influence that Desmond Tutu had on his life — as a friend, colleague, cellmate, and “contemplative in action.”
    Show Notes
    Desmond Tutu's Nobel Prize biography pageMade for Goodness by Desmond TutuBooks by Trevor HudsonOther Episodes With This Guest
    Ep 47: Trevor Hudson — Friendship with GodEp 73: Trevor Hudson — Holiness is Better Than You ThinkEp 131: Trevor Hudson — Listen to the GroansEp 154: Trevor Hudson — Meeting Christ in Our TearsEp 153: Trevor Hudson — The Litmus Test for LentEp 215: Trevor Hudson and Jan Johnson — What Is Spiritual Direction?Ep 239: Trevor Hudson — Seeking God

    • 34 min
    Luci Shaw — Madeleine L'Engle

    Luci Shaw — Madeleine L'Engle

    “We enriched each other.” Luci Shaw speaks with Nate about her rich friendship with Madeleine L'Engle and how they made one another better writers and better followers of Jesus.
    Show Notes + TranscriptNate: Lucy, we get to talk about your friend today. How did you first come to meet Madeline?
    Luci: Well, Madeleine and I met originally at Wheaton College at a conference on, on literature, and she was a speaker and I was a speaker, and so we just happened to connect at that, at that time, and we discovered we had a lot in common.
    Madeline had just written a couple of poems that she wanted published. So, since my husband and I had just started the publishing company, Harold Shaw Publishers, I asked Madeline if she would like us to publish her poetry. Which is one of the things we had planned to do, was publish poetry people of faith. So, we did. We published two of her books. One was called A Cry Like a Bell. And the other one was Oh, I can't even remember the name of it. But this was very early on. And we discovered the more we talked, the more we found we had in common. 
    We loved Bach. We loved the music of Bach. We had a number of common friends. That was way back when. 
    Nate: Now, was this before she'd written Wrinkle in Time?
    Luci: She had written A Wrinkle in Time.
    Nate: And then you two went on to write some books together.
    Luci: That's right, yeah, we had our publishing company, and we were trying to publish, books by people of faith who had a literary bent. Anyway, that was the beginning of a really fruitful friendship. We found that, though Madeline had a number of people who were devoted to her and looked up to her, she didn't have many colleagues who were sort of meeting her at the friendship level, not just the sort of worshipful level that she had managed to accumulate.
    So, the first book that we did together, I asked her to write a book on faith, how faith and literature work together. So she, at one point, handed me this very untidy typescript. Piles and piles of typed notes and possible chapter headings and so on.
    So I had to just take the whole thing, pull it apart, I emptied my dining room, got the table out of the way, and started making piles. of different ideas that would flow together. We called it the Weather of the Heart. 
    She needed someone who could sort of say, Madeline, you can't say that. You know, that's... not orthodox. We'll have to talk through that one. So, we did. We did a lot of discussion. She came from a very liberal background in New York City. I came from a very conservative background. And we sort of met in the middle and discovered that we loved each other's works. And we learned a lot from each other and through each other.
    Nate: What did you learn from her? 
    Luci: I learned to be a lot more open about what faith in God was all about. That you didn't have formulas by which to describe your faith. That this was a freeing thing, that the Holy Spirit of God could work in different ways. We just enjoyed each other's experiences with the Spirit of God. We shared so much. We found that working together was truly an act of worship to God. 
    I remember after working through an entire manuscript, The Weather of the Heart, we finished all the copy editing and so on, we spontaneously stood to our feet and sang the doxology, "Praise God From Whom All Blessings Flow." 
    Nate: What do you want people to remember about her?
    Luci: I want them to remember that she loved God with all her heart. That she wanted to be God's child and servant. And I think that what I could bring to her was a sense that God was larger than either her understanding or my understanding of God. That God was so magnificent and so wide, in the ways we could reach to God through the Holy Spirit.
    So it was a very Trinitarian friendship. She loved Jesus, and you know, the fact that God was both Jesus and also the Divine Creator of the world. 
    Nate: How did you see her work influence people spiritually?
    Luci: I think she

    • 22 min
    Sho Baraka — George Washington Carver

    Sho Baraka — George Washington Carver

    Amisho “Sho” Baraka joins Nate for a fascinating conversation about George Washington Carver — a man whose faith directed his genius toward the good of others.
    Resources
    The Man Who Talks with the Flowers: The Intimate Life Story of Dr. George Washington Carver, by Glenn Clark Essential Writings of the American Black Church, by John HuntTuskegee UniversityHe Saw That It Was Good, by Sho BarakaAlbum: ​“The Narrative,” Sho Baraka, 2016“Bravery to Faithfully Create,” article by Sho Baraka on renovare.orgOther episodes with this guest
    Episode 234 : Sho Baraka — He Saw That It Was Good

    • 31 min
    Andrew Arndt — On the Desert Fathers and Mothers

    Andrew Arndt — On the Desert Fathers and Mothers

    Pastor and author Andrew Arndt talks with Nathan Foster about how the stories and examples of the desert fathers and mothers move from exhaustion, burnout, and pain into a more vibrant faith.

    • 35 min
    Mimi Dixon — On Catherine Doherty

    Mimi Dixon — On Catherine Doherty

    Mimi Dixon shares how the life and words of Catherine Doherty—a pioneer for interracial justice and mentor to Thomas Merton—helped her to return to her first love. Resources
    Poustinia, by Catherine DohertyCatherine Doherty writes about prayer and sacraments as ways to welcome and know the presence of God in “First Meet God” Luminous Lives, a Renovaré e-course hosted my Mimi Dixon

    • 42 min
    Matthew Clark — The Gift of Truth

    Matthew Clark — The Gift of Truth

    Matthew Clark joined Nate in-person to tape this week's podcast conversation on the topic of truth — truthful storytelling, truthful music, true relationships and true worship. 
    Visit Matthew Clark's website.
    Books by Matthew Clark
    Tale of Two Trees  Only The Lover Sings Find Matthew's music on Spotify and Apple
    Matthew's Podcast — One Thousand Words: Stories Along the Way

    • 43 min

Customer Reviews

4.7 out of 5
318 Ratings

318 Ratings

A 70-plus grandma! ,

Nourishing Word for Souls Hungry for “Real” Food.

Even as toddlers, after parties and too many sweets and junk food, my children would actually say “ No, I think I need some REAL food”…. . We ALL do !!!
Thank you Nathen, for always offering us Soul Nourishing Food , without rushing ,and serving it with attention to contents, detail and simple lovely presentation.! Its always a delicious and enriching meal with gracious friends..what a gift !

Gail Mann

Dlgtemp ,

Great podcast

This podcast is a favorite. It always offers words of wisdom and encouragement. Thank you

LRTrog ,

So much comfort and authenticity

Thank you for this place of solace! I appreciate it!

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