Life Together in Christ

Many of us are carrying a lot of baggage regarding Christian community.  Ruth has often commented that it is one of the most over-promised, under-delivered aspects of the Christian life—which means that Christians who have been deeply involved in church are often the most cynical and disillusioned. In Season 2 of the Strengthening the Soul…

Jesus wants to be in your juicy conversations. Just think about it—the Emmaus Road encounter would not have happened had the disciples not welcomed “the stranger” on their journey home. Welcoming the other’s experience and story are integral to the idea of welcoming the stranger. In episode 2, Ruth shares a story of how welcoming…

Continuing the story of the Emmaus Road, Jesus plays dumb and models what spiritual companionship can look like. How do we become the kind of person who can listen rather than fix, and stand still being sad rather than rushing in with our own advice? In episode 3, we discover some great questions that can…

In their conversation on the Emmaus Road, Jesus created a safe space for the disciples to share their deepest desire. Getting in touch with our deepest desire is like peeling an onion—there are many layers, and getting to the center might leave you in a pool of tears. Listen to a great conversation about how…

If you read the Emmaus Road conversation carefully in Luke 24, you will notice that part of the story the disciples told Jesus was that “the women of our group astounded us” with news of the Resurrection on that first Easter morning. Ruth unpacks the countercultural approach Jesus took to the role of women and…

Jesus listened long enough to the disciples on the Emmaus Road to offer a spiritual perspective on the hardest experiences of life. In this conversation, Ruth and Steve discuss the role of suffering in the Christian journey and how we need to normalize suffering so we can claim its fruitful role in the spiritual life.…

Jesus is on a roll now—helping the disciples on the Emmaus Road to see their story and what felt so personal to them as part of the larger story of what God has been doing down through history. What makes the human journey really exciting is being able to understand our own story in light…

Ever had a conversation you wish didn’t have to end? The two disciples were so stirred by their conversation that “they urged Jesus strongly to stay.” And it was in the staying that the disciples recognized Jesus’ transforming presence as they shared a meal together. The practice of stability is not a strength of western…

As we conclude season two, the disciples on the Emmaus Road are so excited about what has happened in and through their encounter with Jesus on the Emmaus Road that they jump up from dinner and turn right around to go back to Jerusalem to share what has happened with the other disciples. The trauma…