The Being Formed Podcast

What does it look like to remain deeply committed to Jesus when so much of what we see in contemporary Christianity leaves us disillusioned?

In this episode of The Being Formed Podcast, Adam Ormord welcomes pastor, author, and worship leader Aaron Niequist for an honest conversation about faith, disappointment, deconstruction, and the enduring beauty of the Way of Jesus.

Aaron shares his journey from leading worship in large churches to helping create spaces for contemplative prayer, spiritual formation, and authentic community. Together, Adam and Aaron explore the tension between seeing the problems within the Church with fearless clarity and refusing to surrender to cynicism or give up on Jesus.

They also discuss Aaron's work with Pastors, Priests, and Guides, a growing community offering retreats and ongoing opportunities for rest, healing, solidarity, and re-imagination for ministry leaders.

Throughout the conversation, Aaron returns to what he calls "the peacemaking, neighbor-serving, enemy-loving way of Jesus," a way of life that remains as compelling and necessary as ever.

This conversation is an invitation to move beyond simply believing things about Jesus toward actually following him, together, for the sake of the world.

In This Episode

Finding hope amid disillusionment with the Church

The difference between the gospel about Jesus and the gospel of Jesus

Deconstruction and what comes next

Rediscovering the Beatitudes as a way of life

Why pastors and ministry leaders need rest, healing, and meaningful community

The vision behind Pastors, Priests, and Guides and its Between Retreats community

Links & Resources
Pastors, Priests, and Guides
https://pastorspriestsandguides.com/

Between Retreats — Substack
https://pastorspriestsandguides.substack.com/

Aaron Niequist
https://www.aaronniequist.com/

The Sacred Way Community — LifePoint Resources

An 18-month journey of relational spiritual formation beginning September 2027. Learn more and complete an interest form:

https://www.lifepointresources.org/sacred-way-community

LifePoint Resources
https://www.lifepointresources.org/

 

The Being Formed Podcast is a soul care ministry of LifePoint Resources.

What does it mean to become a person of love in a culture that rewards appearance and performance?

In this episode, Adam talks with pastor, therapist, professor, and author Chuck DeGroat about his forthcoming book, Who You’re Becoming: The Slow and Courageous Work of Cultivating Character in a Narcissistic Age. Chuck begins by sharing honestly about a season of pruning and questions in his own life. Together, they explore the pressure to appear formed, the ache beneath our search for attention, and the difference between being seen by an audience and being known by people who love us.

Their conversation turns toward the slow, relational work of character formation. With so much language and content about spiritual growth available to us, Chuck offers a question to consider in this episode: Are we becoming more loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, and kind?

Links mentioned:

Learn more about Chuck DeGroat

Find Chuck's book, "Who You’re Becoming," on Amazon

Explore The Sacred Way Community, LifePoint’s 18-month journey with Jesus and others, beginning in September 2027

The Being Formed Podcast is a soul care ministry of LifePoint Resources.

What do you imagine God feels when you come to mind?

Many of us believe that God loves us, yet our hearts live from the assumption that he is disappointed in us. We trust that we have been forgiven while continuing to perform for God’s approval. We know that God welcomes us, but struggle to imagine that he genuinely enjoys our company.

In this episode, Adam welcomes back Brian Fisher, founder of Soil & Roots, host of the Soil & Roots Podcast, and author of Soil & Roots: Cultivating Deep Discipleship.

Together, they explore the difference between the beliefs we affirm with our minds and the deeper ideas from which our hearts actually live. Brian introduces “Heartview,” a practice of noticing how our thoughts, emotions, words, behaviors, relationships, health, time, and money reveal what we truly believe about God, ourselves, and the world.

Brian also shares what Soil & Roots learned from its recent spiritual formation survey, including the widespread desire to hear from God more clearly, become more loving, and experience a more secure attachment to God. The conversation then turns toward Greenhouses, two-year guided communities designed to accompany people through the inward journey with Jesus and trusted friends.

This is an honest conversation about suffering, transformation, spiritual community, and learning to recognize God’s delight in the ordinary experiences of our lives.

In this conversation:

Why theological accuracy does not always produce inner transformation

The inward journey and meeting God at the wall

The difference between intellectual beliefs and the ideas held within our hearts

Why knowing God loves us is different from experiencing that God likes us

Heartview as a practice of noticing

What Soil & Roots discovered through its spiritual formation survey

Why deep formation requires time, safety, relationship, and community

The vision behind Soil & Roots Greenhouses

Recognizing God’s affection through Scripture, creation, friendship, beauty, and everyday life

About Brian Fisher

Brian Fisher is the founder of Soil & Roots, host of the Soil & Roots Podcast, and author of Soil & Roots: Cultivating Deep Discipleship. His work helps Christians explore the hidden ideas, desires, wounds, and stories that shape their hearts so they can become more like Jesus from the inside out.

Learn more:

Soil & Roots

Explore Greenhouses

Brian’s book: Soil & Roots: Cultivating Deep Discipleship

Brian’s writing on Substack

The Soil & Roots Podcast

The Being Formed Podcast is a soul care ministry of LifePoint Resources.

Originally released on September 4, 2024, as “Deep Listening Might Save Us,” this conversation returns to The Being Formed Podcast exactly two years later. Once again, on Adam’s birthday.

Coincidence? We don't think so...

Bringing this episode out of the archives feels like a birthday gift because its message reflects the heart of LifePoint Resources: every soul deserves to be heard.

Stephen W. Smith has been a friend and mentor to Adam Ormord as he has found his way more deeply into spiritual formation, spiritual direction, and the care of the soul. In this powerful conversation, Steve and Adam explore our fundamental need to be heard and the healing that can happen when another person offers us their attentive presence.

Deep listening is more than a communication skill. It is a way of loving. When we listen without rushing to fix, advise, interrupt, or prepare our response, we create space for another person to feel seen, known, and received.

The conversation was inspired by Steve’s article, “Deep Listening Might Save Us,” published in July 2024. Steve later returned for Episode 41 to discuss his book of poetry, Greening: Poems in the Unfolding of Our Lives. Including this "remixed" episode, Steve has now appeared on The Being Formed Podcast more often than any other guest.

A Practice for Deep Listening
Near the end of the conversation, Steve invites listeners to create an acrostic using the word LISTEN. Allow each letter to represent a posture or skill that helps you become more present to another person.

Consider:

Who in your life needs to be heard?

What keeps you from offering that person your full attention?

What might become possible if you simply listened?

Links:
Read “Deep Listening Might Save Us” by Stephen W. Smith

Listen to Episode 41: “Greening (with Stephen W. Smith)”

 

The Being Formed Podcast is a soul care ministry of LifePoint Resources.

What happens when the ministry you have poured your life into is suddenly no longer yours?

After more than three decades of ministry together, Mike and Lori McDaniel found themselves facing an unexpected and painful ending. What followed was a season of grief, disorientation, and the difficult work of discovering who they were apart from the roles and ministry that had shaped so much of their lives.

In this episode of The Being Formed Podcast, Adam Ormord (host) invites Mike and Lori into a heartfelt conversation about the subtle ways identity can become entangled with what we do for God, learning the language of grief and lament, slowing down enough to pay attention to our souls, and redefining what success looks like when much of what once made it visible has been stripped away.

At the heart of Mike and Lori's journey is what they now call The Great Invitation, the invitation of Jesus in Matthew 11 to come to him, learn from him, and discover a sustainable way of life with God. Before the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, perhaps we first need to hear again the Great Invitation: Come to me.

About Mike & Lori McDaniel
Mike and Lori are co-founders and Directors of The Great Invitation, a ministry providing soul care to pastors, church leaders, and missionaries through retreats, individual coaching and spiritual direction, and onsite coaching for ministry teams. They have spent 36 years in ministry together, leading in pastoral ministry, church planting, soul care, and spiritual direction. They founded Grace Point Church in Bentonville, Arkansas, in 2001, where Mike served as Lead Pastor for 23 years while Lori built and led ministries in children's, missions, and women's ministry. They have also lived overseas as missionaries, training leaders and planting churches. Their shared love for the nations has taken them to over 30 countries, strengthening indigenous leaders and cross-cultural workers.

Mike is first and foremost a pastor at heart, having shepherded congregations for over two decades and mentored other pastors and church leaders along the way. He holds his Doctorate in Ministry from Dallas Theological Seminary and is a certified Spiritual Director through Denver Seminary. He is also an Associate Certified Coach through the International Coaching Federation and completed the Flourishing in Ministry Life Coach certification at BIOLA University. He is the author of The Resurgent Church.

Lori is an experienced ministry leader, author, mentor, and Bible teacher who speaks at conferences globally. Lori holds a BS in education and psychology, an MA in theology and intercultural studies from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Spiritual Formation and Soul Care at Talbot School of Theology (BIOLA University). She completed the Flourishing in Ministry certification at BIOLA and is completing both her International Coaching Federation credentials and Narrative-Focused Trauma training at the Allender Center (Seattle School of Psychology and Theology). She is the author of The Mission of God and You.

Mike and Lori were high school sweethearts and have been married for 35 years. They have three married adult children and seven grandchildren.

To learn more about Mike and Lori and their soul care ministry, visit https://greatinvitation.org.

The Being Formed Podcast is a soul care ministry of LifePoint Resources.