Poema Podcast

Poema S4 012 | Redefining Our Metrics of Success with Abi Lloyd

This week my beloved friend Abi Lloyd joins me on the show. Today we discuss what it means to be successful, what our measures for success are, and how those measures of success can impact our lives. 
Abi and I discuss healthy and unhealthy metrics for success we see in our culture and how they manifest themselves in our lives - how we can tie our value to our "success" and so if and when we have failures, those failures can be deeper and more damaging. We talk about how a healthy view of success shouldn't be dependent on our circumstances, but instead be about our personal growth and development.
Abi shares what success means for her in her life right now, and how our measures of success can change - with her ultimate philosophy of discovering joy in her every day. 
Whatever field you work in, I hope this conversation can really help you find healthier measure for success.

Poema S4 011 | Chris Morris on Whispers In The Pews

Chris Morris returns to the show today to talk about the new book, "Whispers In The Pews: Voices on Mental Illness In The Church", a collection of true stories from 18 Christians with mental illness, sharing their experiences of mental illness in the church, which he compiled and edited. 
Chris and I talk about his own experiences of mental illness and good and bad experiences of this within the church. We discuss what the church has done badly with mental illness, and how it can do better. Chris also shares how all of us - even those with mental illness - always have more to learn about mental illness, and the importance of hearing and validating each others stories, and ending stigma, especially within the church. 
Chris has so much wisdom and experience surrounding both mental illness, chronic illness and faith, and this was a really inspiring conversation. 
You can get "Whispers In The Pews" (which includes a contribution by yours truly) on Amazon now. 

Poema S4 010 | Mr Ekow on Escaping No Mans' Land

Musician Mr Ekow, is my guest today. We hear his story, including the challenges of being an LGBT Christian, coming out to non-affirming Christians and his pastor, and how this impacted his relationships and own creative journey as a musician. He talks about being stuck in no mans land - wanting to be faithful to God, but also wanting to be true to his own identity. 
Mr Ekow shows how he has faced both racial and LGBT prejudice and how this had an impact on his emotional and mental health. He then talks about the freedom he has found since coming out and how his story has impacted his music.
His story is one of struggle, courage, creativity and freedom. It's a story of hope, and the power of owning your story and the freedom which comes from being true to who you really are. 

Poema S4 009 | Father Nadim Nassar on The Culture Of God

Father Nadim Nassar, the Church of England’s only Syrian priest, and an outspoken advocate for western Christians to recognise their Middle-Eastern heritage, is my guest today
Father Nadim shares his own journey, and then he and I discuss his first book, 'The Culture of God', and explore how there are three cultures Christians need to understand when they read the Bible: the culture of the Bible itself, their own culture, and finally ‘the culture of God’.
In our conversation, we see that ultimately it was Jesus who had direct access to the culture of God; and so we need to begin by understanding Jesus in his own first-century Middle Eastern culture - which, although he was a Jew, was under the rule of Syria. We unpack a few examples from Jesus life, where an understanding of his own culture opens up an entirely different meaning to familiar gospel stories.
Talking to Father Nadim was an enlightening experience for me, and I know he will really inspire, challenge and encourage you as he has me, and many others. 

Poema S4 008 | Brandan Robertson on True Inclusion

Pastor, author & activist Brandan Robertson returns to the podcast today, to talk about his new book 'True Inclusion', and what it means - and doesn't mean - to be a truly inclusive church. 
Brandan shares from his own experience of pastoring a church, the lessons he has learned about what it means to make a church truly inclusive, both of the LGBTQ community, and those at different stages of their spiritual or even theological journey. He shares the changes he believes the church may have change as more and more people embrace the spiritual deconstruction and reconstruction journey so many are on right now - even so far as changing how we do church, and what the role of church is. 
Brandan then discusses with me how churches need to become more prophetic, the challenges which lie ahead. To conclude, he shares his hopes for the church, and how he envisions we can have healthy spiritual community for all, whoever they are, wherever they are in their spiritual journey. 

Poema S4 007 | Barry Pearman on Nehemiah & Mental Illness In The Church

Barry Pearman, author, gardner, mental health advocate and former pastor joins me today to discuss his new book, 'Broken To Built', a devotional on the book of Nehemiah, and practical ways we can make space for people with mental illness in the church.
Barry shares his own journey and experiences with mental illness and how these inspired him to take practical steps to make churches a safe space for mental illness, and how these steps have borne fruit in practice.
Finally, we talk about the story of Nehemiah, and how his story of rebuilding Jerusalem from its ruins inspired Barry, and can inspire us to build a life of faith, living with mental or chronic illness - and how the creative process of writing these books has helped Barry on his mental health and faith journey. 
 

Poema S4 006 | Becky Castle Miller on Depression, Deconstruction & How The Church Must Do Better on Mental Illness

Author & Discipleship Director Becky Castle Miller joins me today. Becky suffered from depression after the birth of her second child, and now does a lot of work in helping churches become safe spaces for mental illness, and advocating for church leaders and members to be better educated on mental illness. 
Today she shares her own story, and talks about how her mental illness led her into a faith deconstruction and reconstruction. Becky and I talk about the importance of educating pastors and church leaders on mental illness, and how churches and individuals can practically serve and welcome those with mental illness in a healthy, loving way of acceptance.
We also discuss healthy and unhealthy models of power and kingship - the violent, domineering, aggressive models used throughout history, as opposed to the example we see in Jesus - surrender, grace, empowering others, servant-heartedness and peacemaking. 
Becky is passionate about the church doing better with those facing mental health challenges and those going through a deconstruction, and has lots of wisdom and experience on how we can do this better. This is worth a listen for all those wanting a voice of solidarity on their journey,  those with mental health challenges looking for hope and support, and for all of us seeking to become better mental health advocates.

Poema S4 005 | Aaron Smith on The Intersection Between Christianity & Mental Illness

Today I'm joined by Aaron Smith, AKA as Cultural Savage - an author and blogger. Aaron has been diagnosed bipolar 2, he's also a Christian - and has sadly encountered a lot of stigma, both outside and inside the church, surrounding his own mental illness. 
Aaron has recently released his first book - "Cultural Savage - The Intersection Between Christianity & Mental Illness", a collection of essays where he shares his experiences of living with Bipolar 2 and how it has intersected with his faith, and how people of faith have responded to it. Today he shares some of his powerful and challenging story with us, and we explore together how mental illness and Christian faith could interact in a healthy way, and what healthy and unhealthy responses to those with mental illness can look like.
Finally, we discuss stigma within the church and culture around mental illness, how we can change this, and Aaron offers words of solidarity and hope to those facing these challenges. 

Poema S4 004 | Felicity Morse on Self-Love, Boundaries & Why Sensitivity Is A Superpower

Today I'm delighted to welcome author and life coach Felicity Morse to the show. Felicity's first book 'Give A F**k' was released recently and today we talk about the themes of the book - self-care, self-love, boundaries, victimhood and sensitivity. 
Felicity shares her own story and how she learned how it's not selfish to love ourselves, but, in fact, vitally important to a healthy life and our ability to serve others. We discuss why sensitivity isn't a weakness, but a superpower, a gift we can give to the world, and how we can use it well. 
Felicity also talks about victimhood - and how in many ways all of us are victims, but how playing the victim, sitting on our high horses, can actually be a form of self-hatred, a mask to hide us from the pain and fear we're feeling.
We also discuss the importance and healing power of physical touch, and how can underestimate it's importance, as well as the challenges of fidning healthy expressions of this outside an intimate relationship. Finally, we discuss boundaries, both healthy and unhealthy, and how we can set healthy boundaries for ourselves, and in relationships. 
Felicity is both wise, fun, and hugely compassionate, and has so much to share on these subjects. Take a listen, then go check out her new book. 

Poema S4 003 | Shawn Smucker on the Writers Life

Today my guest is author Shawn Smucker. Shawn has been writing and publishing for nearly two decades, and knows all there is to know about the writers journey, the challenges, the highs and lows of being a writer. 
Today we talk about these challenges, including how to maintain integrity whilst also promoting work, how to persevere when you're not having success, how to deal with rejection by publishing houses, finding your true voice, and how to live with success and failure. Shawn shares his writing journey with us, and the lessons he has learned, with great honesty and wisdom.
Shawn released his first novel 'The Day The Angels Fell' in 2017 and it's sequel 'The Edge of Over There' was released earlier this year. His non-fiction book 'Once We Were Strangers', sharing the story of his experience with a Syrian refugee, and it's impact on his faith, is released in October. He has so much wisdom on writing and the creative journey, and this is well worth a listen.