Being Human with Steve Cuss Christianity Today
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- Religion & Spirituality
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A new podcast from Christianity Today, Being Human with Steve Cuss is Christian counseling in podcast form. Steve Cuss, a former trauma and hospice chaplain, pastor, and leadership coach, guides listeners with a gospel-informed journey of discovery into the world of emotional health: everything from anxiety and reactivity, to triangulation, overfunctioning, and the Enneagram.
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Playfulness, Earnestness, and Worship
A systems theorist walks into an organization and orders playfulness and earnestness.
This isn’t just a silly take on a joke format—it’s a tested method of determining whether or not teams have what it takes to go the distance. As host Steve Cuss explains on this episode of Being Human, too much seriousness on a team tends to lead to rigidity, but playful teams tend to be able to handle ambiguity and challenges.
Could the same be true for worship?
Sometimes we get too earnest and everything gets rigid. In this episode Steve looks at the power of playfulness in your people, how ot notice when things are getting too earnest and stuck and the relationship between playfulness and worship. Steve also teaches us how to use a Life Giving List to help us relax into God’s presence. You can download a life giving list template here.
Tune in for an episode that invites us to treasure our faith through playful presence with God.
Click here to pre order Steve’s new book.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Bowen family systems theory
Death by Meeting: A Leadership Fable About Solving the Most Painful Problem in Business by Patrick Lencioni
Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton
“Letter XLVI” by Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
The Expectation Gap: The Tiny, Vast Space between Our Beliefs and Experience of God by Steve Cuss
Generation to Generation: Family Process in Church and Synagogue by Edwin Friedman
“Being Human with Steve Cuss” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Produced by Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper
Produced and Edited by Matt Stevens
Associate Producers: McKenzie Hill, Raed Gilliam, and Abby Perry
Theme song by Dan Phelps
Original Music by Andy Gullahorn
Mix Engineer: Kevin Morris
Graphic Design: Amy Jones
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Non-Anxious Presence with Alan Fadling
“Jesus cares for our troubles, but they don’t worry him.”
So says Alan Fadling, who joins host Steve Cuss on this episode of Being Human. Fadling is an author and the leader of Unhurried Living, a non-profit that trains people to rest deeper, live fuller and lead better. His latest book, The Non-Anxious Life, draws from spiritual formation and touches on systems theory, as well.
Cuss and Fadling discuss the ways that anxiety is not just a personal dynamic, but an organizational one. They consider what Dallas Willard had to say about anxiety and peace, how anxiety communicates that God is not there for us, and what it may look like to remember that Jesus is present with us. They talk about the differences in believing that “I am anxiety” and “I have anxiety.” And they consider how anxiety influences leadership, our sense of connection with Jesus, and our engagement with culture.
Tune in for an episode that sheds light on the way of peace.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Alan Fadling
The Non-Anxious Life: Experiencing the Peace of God's Presence by Alan Fadling
Unhurried Living
George Doebler
Bowen family systems theory
Edwin H. Friedman
Dallas Willard
Viktor Frankl
“Being Human with Steve Cuss” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Produced by Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper
Produced and Edited by Matt Stevens
Associate Producers: McKenzie Hill, Raed Gilliam, and Abby Perry
Theme song by Dan Phelps
Original Music by Andy Gullahorn
Mix Engineer: Kevin Morris
Graphic Design: Amy Jones
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'Listen, Listen, Speak' with Jay Kim
If you struggle to keep your thoughts to yourself in the internet age, you’re not alone. On this episode of Being Human, host Steve Cuss admits that he struggles with a core belief that sounds something like the world needs my opinion. What are Christians to do in an era when there’s nonstop opportunity to reply, comment, and react?
On this episode, Cuss welcomes someone he looks up to in this regard: Jay Kim, lead pastor of WestGate Church in San Jose, California and author of several books, including his latest, Listen, Listen, Speak. Kim and Cuss consider the implications of God as infinite and humans as finite and the immensity of eternity. They talk about Kim’s emphasis on listening, formative moments in his faith, and how he believes social media is shaping people. Their conversation covers spiritual practices that can help us remain rooted in a tumultuous era and points to the characteristics of God reflected in creatures and creation.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Jay Kim
WestGate Church
Analog Church: Why We Need Real People, Places, and Things in the Digital Age
Analog Christian: Cultivating Contentment, Resilience, and Wisdom in the Digital Age by Jay Y. Kim
Listen, Listen, Speak: Hearing God and Being Heard in a Noisy World by Jay Y. Kim
Gravity
Interstellar
Neil Postman
Hate Inc.: Why Today’s Media Makes Us Despise One Another by Matt Taibbi
The Art Institute of Chicago
Nighthawks by Edward Hopper
The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis
Bo Burnham: Inside
“The Ignatian Examen”
The Lord’s Prayer
Andy Crouch
Joshua Tree
“Being Human with Steve Cuss” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Produced by Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper
Produced and Edited by Matt Stevens
Associate Producers: McKenzie Hill, Raed Gilliam, and Abby Perry
Theme song by Dan Phelps
Original Music by Andy Gullahorn
Mix Engineer: Kevin Morris
Graphic Design: Amy Jones
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The Chaplain Who Taught Steve Systems Theory: George Doebler
So much of our experience is shaped by what gets passed down to us. Whether it's trauma, wisdom, or a signature hair color, traits and knowledge travel from generation to generation.
On this episode of Being Human, Steve Cuss welcomes George Dobeler, the chaplain who first passed down the concept of family systems theory to Cuss. Doebler and Cuss talk about Doebler's learning from Murray Bowen, who founded the theory. They discuss the importance of understanding one’s family system when it comes to diffusing anxiety. Doebler and Cuss provide real-life examples of systems theory helping people become less reactive and more in touch with God, themselves, and others.
Their conversation covers chaplaincy, trauma recovery, and how theology shapes our responses to anxiety.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Bowen family systems theory
George Doebler
Murray Bowen
Harry Stack Sullivan
Edwin H. Friedman
Genogram
Friedman’s Fables by Edwin H. Friedman
A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix by Edwin H. Friedman
“Being Human with Steve Cuss” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Produced by Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper
Produced and Edited by Matt Stevens
Associate Producers: McKenzie Hill, Raed Gilliam, and Abby Perry
Theme song by Dan Phelps
Original Music by Andy Gullahorn
Mix Engineer: Kevin Morris
Graphic Design: Amy Jones
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Putting Beauty into the World with Charlie Peacock and Andi Ashworth
Some of the most beautiful art in existence was born of great trauma and pain. Think of Vincent Van Gogh, for example, or the Psalms written from a hiding place.
On this episode of Being Human, Steve Cuss welcomes two artists who both know great tragedy and have produced remarkable creative work: Charlie Peacock and Andi Ashworth. The married couple recently published a book, Why Everything That Doesn't Matter, Matters So Much: The Way of Love in a World of Hurt, and they join Cuss for a discussion of grief, art, and hospitality. Their conversation touches some of the couple’s lowest valleys and highest mountains. They talk about Art House America, which they founded in 1991, and how music and writing have been their companions in times of joy and sorrow.
Tune in for a vulnerable and rich discussion of marriage, self-reflection, and the hope of Christ in all things.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Vincent Van Gogh on Doctor Who
Charlie Peacock
Andi Ashworth
Why Everything That Doesn't Matter, Matters So Much: The Way of Love in a World of Hurt by Charlie Peacock and Andi Ashworth
Art House America
Greenbelt Festival
Scotty Smith
Francis and Edith Schaeffer
My Father’s Crown by Charlie Peacock
Luci Shaw
Paranassus Books
Music & Meaning with Charlie Peacock
“Being Human with Steve Cuss” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Produced by Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper
Produced and Edited by Matt Stevens
Associate Producers: McKenzie Hill, Raed Gilliam, and Abby Perry
Theme song by Dan Phelps
Original Music by Andy Gullahorn
Mix Engineer: Kevin Morris
Graphic Design: Amy Jones
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Faith in the Workplace with Jeff Haanen
The workplace can be a setting where people see their worth and have it honored by others. It can also be a hub of discouragement, aimlessness, and a lack of encouragement.
On this episode of Being Human, host Steve Cuss welcomes Jeff Haanen, author of Working from the Inside Out. Haanen, who is the founder of the Denver Faith and Work Institute, sheds light on how inner work can shape outer work and what it looks like to live out Christianity in jobs and careers. He provides listeners with a starting point for thinking theologically about their work and gives pastors some tips for helping their congregants feel seen in their work lives.
Cuss and Haanen talk about dignifying all types of honest work, the value of physical labor, and what it looks like to work unto the Lord when career and passion don’t align.
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
Denver Institute for Faith and Work
Working from the Inside Out: A Brief Guide to Inner Work That Transforms Our Outer World by Jeff Haanen
The Center for Faith and Work
Lesslie Newbigin
Charlotte Institute for Faith & Work
Nashville Institute for Faith and Work
Made to Flourish
“God of the Second Shift”
Treatment Technology
Babette’s Feast
“Being Human with Steve Cuss” is a production of Christianity Today
Executive Produced by Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper
Produced and Edited by Matt Stevens
Associate Producers: McKenzie Hill, Raed Gilliam, and Abby Perry
Theme song by Dan Phelps
Original Music by Andy Gullahorn
Mix Engineer: Kevin Morris
Graphic Design: Amy Jones
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Customer Reviews
Where head meets the heart!!!!
I’m a chaplain myself and I LOVE this podcast!!! This is like CPE like over again but on a Podcast! Thank you!!!!
One of my favorite podcasts!!
This is by far one of my favorite and most helpful podcasts! Diving into sources of anxiety for leaders and relating to other leaders is so helpful. I’m constantly sending episodes to others, “you have to listen to this one!” Steve is one of the best interviewers!
Everything I want in a podcast
This podcast is one of my favorites. Every time I listen I feel like I’ve learned something, been challenged, or inspired all in the most gentle way. This podcast makes me feel peaceful and draws me closer to God. So thankful for the work of Steve and Lisa.