The Prayer of Examen invites us to honest reflection—naming and facing our pain, shame, and heartache. But how do we reflect in a way that is also open to God’s comfort and reassuring love?

In this episode of The Digital Examen’s five-part miniseries, host Jay Y. Kim sits down with Ken Shigematsu, author and senior pastor at Tenth Church in Vancouver, for an honest conversation about reflection, pain, and grace. Drawing from his book, Now I Become Myself, and years of pastoral experience, Shigematsu offers gentle wisdom to help us face our moments of disappointment, regret, and heartbreak and experience relief in God’s loving presence.

Together, Kim and Shigematsu explore the power of the Examen as both a daily and lifelong practice, the difference between rumination and true reflection, and imaginative ways to embrace God’s love every day. Through stories of personal setbacks, pastoral care, and the companionship of Jesus in hardship, this episode is an invitation to embrace God’s healing presence as we reflect on life’s painful moments.

For more encouragement on slowing down, paying attention, and experiencing God’s loving presence, check out Jay Y. Kim’s upcoming book, The Pace of Peace, which expands on these themes and the wisdom of the Examen for our hurried lives.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• Welcoming God into the places of pain and regret
• How reflection leads to healing
• How God sees us as his beloved children

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Ken Shigematsu
• Read Now I Become Myself by Ken Shigematsu
• Learn more about Tenth Church
• Read the transcript here
• Learn more about The Digital Examen
• Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim
• Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen
• Download a Guide to The Examen

Continue attuning to God’s pace by reading Jay Y. Kim’s new book, The Pace of Peace. Drawing on the Prayer of Examen developed by Ignatius of Loyola as a framework for all of life, Kim guides readers through the movements of this ancient prayer practice—invitation, gratitude, reflection, confession, and looking forward—to point us toward the antidotes for the aches of our distracted age. 

Credits:

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Do we need to deny our grief in order to be grateful? And what does practicing gratitude look like when we are suffering and in need?

In this episode of The Digital Examen’s special five-part miniseries, host Jay Y. Kim sits down with Drew Hyun to reflect on how gratitude and grief are both essential and inseparable in our spiritual journey. Hyun is the Founder and Lead Pastor of Hope Church NYC, the author of Beautiful, Disappointing, Hopeful: How Gratitude, Grief, and Grace Reflect the Christian Story, and the Executive Director of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship, an organization that aims to transform church culture through the multiplication of deeply changed pastors and leaders.

Hyun shares how his story—from early family dynamics, learning emotional health from trusted mentors, and decades of ministry experience—has taught him what gratitude truly means. In this candid conversation, Hyun shares wisdom from his own seasons of depression and struggle, explores how the ancient practice of the Examen helps us “explore the iceberg” of our inner lives, and explains why gratitude is not escapism but a practice that befriends suffering and is open to God’s grace.

If you want to learn how gratitude can both embrace grief and move us towards hope, this conversation is for you.

For more encouragement and practical wisdom on living at God’s peaceful pace, be sure to check out Jay Y. Kim’s upcoming book, The Pace of Peace. Its themes continue the journey begun in this episode, offering a framework for rediscovering attention and presence in a world of distraction.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• Why gratitude and grief go hand in hand
• How to name cynicism and move toward hope
• Practices that ground us in God’s presence, especially in suffering

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Drew Hyun
• Read Beautiful, Disappointing, Hopeful by Drew Hyun
• Read Emotionally Healthy Discipleship by Peter Scazzero
• Read the transcript here
• Learn more about The Digital Examen
• Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim
• Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen
• Download a Guide to The Examen

Continue attuning to God’s pace by reading Jay Y. Kim’s new book, The Pace of Peace. Drawing on the Prayer of Examen developed by Ignatius of Loyola as a framework for all of life, Kim guides readers through the movements of this ancient prayer practice—invitation, gratitude, reflection, confession, and looking forward—to point us toward the antidotes for the aches of our distracted age. 

Credits:

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Our suffering is precious to God. Our suffering also holds a strange invitation to encounter the love of God more deeply and discern his voice more clearly. 

In this episode of The Digital Examen’s special five-part mini-series, host Jay Y. Kim welcomes pastor and author Tyler Staton, who opens up about his cancer journey, discerning God’s familiar voice, and learning what it means to be truly loved.

Together, Kim and Staton break down the myth that God only moves through predictable moments and means. Instead, they explore how his presence meets us through both our formal spiritual practices and all of the moments in between—small interruptions, family commitments, and even seasons of suffering. By sharing personal stories like coaching Little League, Staton shares why practicing ordinary spiritual rhythms, cultivating community, and embracing the unique limitations and opportunities of our season of life can train us to recognize God’s familiar voice and loving presence every day in unexpected ways.

Tune in to discover a vision of faith that is less about striving and more about staying present and open to God’s love, especially when life feels anything but peaceful. 

For deeper reflection and guidance, check out Jay Y. Kim's new book, The Pace of Peace, which invites you to discover the peace and ease of being present, known, and fully loved by God.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• How to invite God’s presence into your everyday life
• Why we often miss God’s familiar voice
• How to believe God’s love for us when we have nothing to offer

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Tyler Staton
• Check out The Familiar Stranger and After Amen by Tyler Staton
• Read the transcript here
• Learn more about The Digital Examen
• Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim
• Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen
• Download a Guide to The Examen

Continue attuning to God’s pace by reading Jay Y. Kim’s new book, The Pace of Peace. Drawing on the Prayer of Examen developed by Ignatius of Loyola as a framework for all of life, Kim guides readers through the movements of this ancient prayer practice—invitation, gratitude, reflection, confession, and looking forward—to point us toward the antidotes for the aches of our distracted age. 

Credits:

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder.

But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, and we can attune to that pace through an ancient prayer practice: the Ignatian Examen. In this special five-part mini-series of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim will join writers, pastors, and artists to uncover the gifts of an examined life by meditating on the five key movements of the Prayer of Examen: invitation, gratitude, reflection, confession, and looking forward.

If you are worn down by life’s relentless pace, these conversations—and Jay’s new book, The Pace of Peace—invite you to encounter God in all of life and discover the peace and ease of being present, known, and fully loved.

This special miniseries of The Digital Examen launches August 27th. Tune in and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, or find us on the IVP YouTube channel. 

Links from this episode:

• Read the transcript here
• Learn more about The Digital Examen
• Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim
• Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim
• Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen
• Download a Guide to The Examen

Continue attuning to God’s pace by reading Jay Y. Kim’s new book, The Pace of Peace. Drawing on the Prayer of Examen developed by Ignatius of Loyola as a framework for all of life, Kim guides readers through the movements of this ancient prayer practice—invitation, gratitude, reflection, confession, and looking forward—to point us toward the antidotes for the aches of our distracted age. 

Credits:

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

We rarely experience pure, unfettered joy. More often, we live with a layered emotional experience—where opposite emotions overlap and muddle together. 

Yet, even in these moments, God is with us and understands us.

In this season finale of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim gently guides listeners to embrace the journey of faith as marked by paradox, longing, and the unexpected possibility of joy, even amid life’s greatest disappointments. 

Drawing from the life of Teresa of Avila and the ancient story of Abraham and Sarah, Kim explores why our laughter amid disbelief, tears amid relief, and energy amid great love all mark the emotional complexities of being human—and how God is present in it all. This episode is an invitation to trust that one day your laughter of disbelief can be transformed into the laughter of joy. 

Stay tuned this August for a special miniseries exploring the five movements of the Prayer of Examen—invitation, gratitude, reflection, confession, and looking forward—with guests like Ann Voskamp, Faith Eury Cho, Ken Shigematsu, and others. 

This episode highlights the following themes:

• Why joy and grief often go hand-in-hand
• How paradox shapes authentic faith
• Permission to feel and express real emotions with God

Links from this episode: 

• Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Ministry burnout is real—for pastors, leaders, parents, and volunteers. But beneath our exhaustion, God is inviting us to slow down and experience soul-level renewal by simply being honest in his presence.

In this episode of The Digital Examen, host Jay Y. Kim sits down with pastor Will Chung, whose own journey through severe burnout, breakdown, and renewal led to the founding of Beloved Church in Southern California. Together, they trace Chung’s reckoning with the pressures of ministry, the pain of spiritual weariness, and the temptation to embrace opportunities that outrun the soul. Chung shares about the pivotal moments that shattered his illusions, brought him to tears, and opened his heart to God’s true invitation: to not just serve him, but to stay close to him. Together with Kim, he explores why honest vulnerability is essential for lifelong faithfulness, how solitude and hiddenness restore our souls, and why God cares more about our hearts and character than any of the work we might do for him.

Tune in to learn how God doesn’t just desire our repentance, but our healing and wholeness.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• What true spiritual healing looks like
• Why vulnerability and authentic friendships matter for leaders
• Small shifts that help us choose a life with God, not just for God

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Will Chung
• Learn more about Beloved Church
• Read Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero
• Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Sometimes sacred gifts arrive quietly—in the scent of broth simmering in the kitchen or in the gentle light cascading across a painting.

These small moments hold invitations for us to connect with God. But are our hearts prepared and open to do so?

In this episode of The Digital Examen, host Jay Y. Kim welcomes theologian W. David O. Taylor and visual artist Phaedra Jean Taylor for a moving conversation about embracing God’s interest and presence in our everyday life. Together, they share how prayers, paintings, and simple moments invite us to slow down, embrace a softened heart toward God, and receive the hidden graces we often overlook.

Drawing from their book Prayers for the Pilgrimage and the visual landscapes Phaedra creates, the Taylors reflect on the trust we foster amid struggle, how art and imagination cultivate hope, and how we can truly be met by God both in joy and sorrow. They wrestle with how to bring our full lives—our soup-making, our grumpy moods, our diaper-changing, our illnesses—into honest prayer. They also uncover Jesus’ subversive way of modeling joy amid suffering and offer creative ways to nurture an "undramatic attunement" to God's presence as we move through the world. 

Tune in to learn how to experience Jesus and joy afresh today through vulnerability and praying through all of life’s emotions and experiences with God.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• How God meets us in pain, pleasure, and the ordinary moments of life
• How prayer and art invite vulnerability, honesty, and healing
• Practices for slowing down, noticing, and finding God everywhere

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about W. David O. Taylor
• Learn more about Phaedra Jean Taylor and her art
• Read Prayers for the Pilgrimage by W. David O. Taylor, with paintings by Phaedra Jean Taylor
• Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

How can we engage our imagination to perceive the ordinary imbued with the extraordinary?

All of reality is aflame with God’s loving presence, glimmering with meaning, beauty, and wisdom beneath the surface of our everyday.

In this episode of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim welcomes author, poet, priest, and musician Dr. Malcolm Guite. Widely recognized as one of today’s greatest Christian poets, Guite shares how our imagination is not a creative extra, but a truth-telling faculty that helps us apprehend meaning in a world saturated with data yet hungry for substance. 

Seamlessly connecting insights from Shakespeare and Seamus Heaney to John’s gospel and the life of Moses, Guite illustrates how poetry and story help us discover that reality shimmers with divine presence. By engaging our imagination with God, Guite notes that we can perceive “reality [as] itself numinous, translucent with glimmerings of the supernatural.” Together, Kim and Guite explore how imagination makes biblical truth come alive, how metaphors and parables reveal vivid wisdom, and why community is essential for nurturing and expanding the Christian imagination. 

Listen and be inspired to see your life, faith, and surroundings in a new light—and the world as the handiwork of the greatest poet, God. 

This episode highlights the following themes:

• Why imagination is crucial for perceiving meaning, not just information
• How metaphor and poetry bring spiritual truths down to earth
• The role of community in expanding and renewing Christian imagination

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Dr. Malcolm Guite
• Read Dr. Malcolm Guite’s books, Mariner, Sounding the Seasons and Faith, Hope and Poetry
• Read "Digging" by Seamus Heaney
• Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Our often hurried pace of life not only affects us as adults, but also our kids. 

How can we create rhythms of rest, play, and delight to help our kids savor their childhood years—even as we learn rich spiritual lessons from them as adults?

In this episode of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim welcomes Grace Pouch, educator, content manager for Renovaré, and author of Savoring Childhood. Together, they talk honestly about the frenzied pace of modern life—how it impacts young people, families, and the adults we become—and propose gentler rhythms centered on trust, presence, and joy.

Pouch shares her own journey as a parent and teacher, reflecting on how savoring the moments of childhood, lingering with familiar stories and practices, and embracing Sabbath rest can help children and adults recover a sense of identity and connection with God and one another. They discuss why nurturing play, creativity, and even boredom are essential in a world obsessed with productivity and achievement.

If you sense that life has become too rushed and wonder how to recapture joy, trust, and deep spiritual formation for yourself or the children in your life, this episode is for you. 

This episode highlights the following themes:

• The importance of savoring childhood
• Spiritual formation is a slow work
• Sabbath as a space for trust and rest

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Grace Pouch
• Read Grace Pouch’s book, Savoring Childhood
• Discover Renovaré and resources for spiritual renewal
• Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

With the infinite knit into our very being, our brief life cannot bring us ultimate joy and satisfaction.

And yet, as we long for eternity, we can find meaning and peace by resting in God, serving others, and cultivating a mellow heart.

In this episode of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim welcomes Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, acclaimed Roman Catholic priest and author, whose spiritual trilogy offers wisdom for following Jesus in our youth, mid-life, and final years: The Holy Longing, Sacred Fire, and Insane for the Light. Drawing from decades of pastoral experience, Fr. Rolheiser explores the cultural obsession with staying young, the challenge of aging well, and the deep joy that comes from surrender and gratitude. 

Together, Kim and Fr. Rolheiser reflect on the power of everyday rituals, our modern misunderstanding of happiness, and how true spiritual maturity is cultivated by serving others with an open heart. Through this, they explore how tending a forgiving and thankful spirit is how we can be subversive instruments of joy in the world.

Tune in to discover how to follow Jesus in each of life’s unique seasons, wrestle with our longings, and find true rest in God’s presence. 

This episode highlights the following themes:

• How restless longing shapes all stages of life and can only find rest in God
• How delight, mellow-heartedness, and forgiveness connect to true meaning and maturity
• Simple practices for channeling desire, sustaining love, and finding God in ordinary moments

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Fr. Ronald Rolheiser
• Explore Fr. Rolheiser’s trilogy: The Holy Longing, Sacred Fire, and Insane for the Light
• Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

In seasons when life feels meaningless, how can we perceive purpose, hope, and even joy?

Amid our deeply materialistic culture, the purpose of life can seem to simply be the elimination of pain and inconvenience. Yet the answer to our deepest aches lies in the joy of serving others, the wisdom of our ancestors, and the worthiness of Jesus. 

In this episode of The Digital Examen, host Jay Y. Kim sits down with Isaac Serrano, lead pastor at South Valley Community Church in Gilroy, California and author of When Life Feels Empty. He also serves on the leadership team of the ReGeneration Project and is an adjunct professor teaching theology and ministry at Western Seminary. Together, Kim and Serrano draw from ancient Christian wisdom and their experiences as pastors in Silicon Valley to discuss how discerning our telos, embracing connection with others, and locating ourselves with God’s story are essential to experiencing joy in our digital age. Serrano shares why the antidote to pain and suffering isn’t positive thinking or attempting to escape pain, but embracing endurance, selflessness, and age-old practices like communal singing, thanksgiving, and prayer. 

If you long to experience tangible meaning in your everyday, this episode offers hope, clarity, and practical next steps toward a life filled with purpose and deep joy. 

This episode highlights the following themes:

• The search for meaning in an age of emptiness
• How timeless practices can help us recalibrate our lives toward joy, meaning, and connection with God and others
• Endurance and faith in the midst of suffering

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Isaac Serrano
• Read Isaac Serrano’s book, When Life Feels Empty
• Read the transcript here

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Read Analog Church and Analog Christian by Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen.

Links and Credits:

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Many of us are trapped in a default state of hurry, leaving little space for self-care, spiritual depth, or true rest. The cost is palpable: frayed nerves, drained energy, and fractured relationships—with ourselves, others, and God.

In this episode of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim welcomes Karynthia Glasper Phillips, physician assistant, minister, and author of Press Pause: Making Time for God in an Overscheduled Life. Drawing from her 20+ years in family medicine and ministry, Glasper Phillips shares why our culture’s pace taxes mind, body, and soul—and she offers clear ways to notice the early symptoms of burnout: scuttle sickness, fast fever, and frenzy sickness. Her story—shaped by personal health trials and insights from working with patients—reveals both the lie of self-sufficiency and the healing power of sacred pauses in God’s presence.

Together, Kim and Glasper Phillips discuss recognizing the hurried heart, finding God at work in quiet moments, and learning the rhythms of rest that reawaken joy, creativity, and meaningful connection. You’ll find practical ways to start your day with intention and embrace the wholeness that comes from being present with God, with yourself, and with others.

If you’re weary, stretched thin, or on the verge of burnout, tune in for an opportunity to pause in God’s loving presence and experience his restorative rejuvenation. 

This episode highlights the following themes:

• How hurry syndrome erodes our health, relationships, and spiritual life
• The power of Sabbath and practical strategies for true rest
• Why self-care and spiritual wholeness matter for loving others well

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Karynthia Glasper Phillips
• Preorder Karynthia Glasper Phillips’s book, Press Pause: Making Time for God in an Overscheduled Life
• Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

How do we move beyond performative spirituality and instead bring our whole selves to God in prayer—including our boredom, sorrow, and joy?

It can be hard to believe that the entire spectrum of human experience and emotion is welcome in God’s presence. Music, beauty, and art can help us.

In this episode of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim welcomes singer-songwriter Jon Guerra, known for his deeply honest and beautiful devotional music. Guerra opens up about his journey from writing congregational worship songs to creating what he calls "Monday morning prayer music," offering language and space for the full range of our human experiences with God—not just the triumphant. Kim and Guerra reflect on the power of music and art to help us process truth, perceive the invisible, and uncover the delight that can only be experienced alongside grief. Guerra shares practical wisdom for cultivating our inner life with God, the importance of silence and lament, and how all of art ultimately moves towards prayer.

Tune in to discover how prayer is both the antidote for performative living and an invitation to a more spacious, grounded, and joyful faith.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• How prayer forms the core of a healthy spiritual life
• The ways beauty and music connect us to God and each other
• The freedom found in acknowledging our raw emotions with God

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Jon Guerra and his music
• Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Reading the Bible can sometimes feel like a chore or duty. But when we slow down, we notice the text carries an invitation to join a story that’s vibrant, creative, and deeply personal. 

In this episode of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim welcomes biblical scholar and founder of Sacred Patterns, Hakeem Bradley, whose unconventional journey to faith and research expertise invites us to see the Bible afresh. Bradley holds a Master’s in Theological and Biblical Studies from Western Seminary and is currently a PhD candidate in New Testament Studies at Ridley College in Melbourne. He has served communities across the United States and Canada through preaching, teaching, and research.

Alongside Kim, Bradley reveals that our delight in Scripture grows as we slow down and are attentive to its patterns, which reveal key themes, practical wisdom, and God’s heart. He speaks about how the Scriptures reflect not only historical accounts, but also our own family heritage and an ongoing story that we are invited to partake in today. Bradley also emphasizes the importance of reading the Bible slowly, as well as his heart to equip children and families to see Scripture as their own living story. Together, they uncover that true joy is found in God’s presence, where we are seen by God in all of our sorrow, grief, and brokenness. 

Listen in for inspiration to slow down, delight in Scripture’s sacred patterns, and reimagine your place in God’s story.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• Why repetition and patterns shape our spiritual formation
• How scripture becomes a living family history, not just an ancient text
• How deep biblical joy is possible even amid intense suffering

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Hakeem Bradley and Sacred Patterns
• Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

For many of us, the possibility of joy can feel intimidating or unattainable. Sometimes elusive and hard to pin down, we wonder if joy is simply a feeling or if it could involve our emotions in any substantial way. 

In this episode of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim welcomes Anglican priest and author Tish Harrison Warren, whose books Liturgy of the Ordinary and Prayer in the Night have resonated with thousands searching for meaning in the everyday journey of faith. 

Together, they probe our cultural inability to sustain our attention to both God and life itself. Warren talks candidly about what happens to our souls when our capacity to contemplate is lost, how we can overanalyze moments of revival, and how we are often not very effective at talking about biblical joy. By confronting our fear of encountering God in the intimate setting of the mundane, they affirm that God desires to meet with and speak to us on any given Wednesday. As they share stories of family life and honest reflections on burnout, they uncover that true joy is both deeply spiritual and rooted in our human experiences. 

Tune into this conversation for an invitation to discover God’s sacramental joy even on your most ordinary days.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• Why “ordinary” days are sacred
• Joy as a gift, practice, and a muscle
• Honest hope when everything feels like it’s falling apart

Links from this episode: 

• Learn more about Tish Harrison Warren
• Read Liturgy of the Ordinary and Prayer in the Night by Tish Harrison Warren
• Check out Tish Harrison Warren’s upcoming book: What Grows in Weary Lands
• Read the transcript here

Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

SPECIAL OFFER | Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

Credits:

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above. 

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

What do we do when the “spark” of life fades?

The sorrows and fleeting pleasures of life can leave each of us despairing, burnt out, and unfulfilled. Yet even here, God offers us an alternative: real joy.

In this season’s opening episode of The Digital Examen, host Jay Y. Kim unpacks what Scripture really teaches about "joy." As Kim explains, the pursuit of pleasure in our modern age is like running endlessly on a treadmill—you never truly arrive. Yet, the entire Bible testifies to the joy God offers: a lasting inner steadiness built upon the goodness of God. Together, we’ll find that Jesus himself embraced a life of both palpable grief and abundant joy.

If you long to live a life marked by grounded delight, join us as we look to the most joyful being in the universe: God. You'll be encouraged that joy is not just possible, but readily available to you as a gift from God.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• The difference between fleeting pleasures and lasting joy
• Deep joy is rooted in the presence and goodness of God
• How true joy prevails even amid suffering and struggle

Links from this episode:

• Read the transcript here
• Learn more about The Digital Examen
• Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim
• Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim
• Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen
• Download a Guide to The Examen

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight. In this season of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

Credits:

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Slowing down in a culture of speed isn’t easy. Noticing in an age of distraction might be even harder. And experiencing joy amid the pressure to produce can feel impossible.

But walking intentionally with God happens at the pace of peace, leading us to that which often feels elusive: joy and delight.

In season three of The Digital Examen podcast, host Jay Y. Kim joins an array of writers, educators, artists, and theologians—including Malcolm Guite, David Taylor, Jon Guerra, Tish Harrison Warren, and many others—to explore the many gifts God offers just beneath the surface of our frenzied lives, often hidden in plain view. 

Season three of The Digital Examen launches Wednesday, January 28, 2026. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, or tune in on the IVP YouTube channel. 

Together, we’ll discover that a life marked by joy and delight is available to any and all who would slow down and notice. 

Links from this episode:

• Read the transcript here
• Learn more about The Digital Examen
• Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim
• Preorder The Pace of Peace by Jay Y. Kim
• Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen
• Download a Guide to The Examen

The world is full of noise. Many are exhausted by the cacophony and chaos of the modern, digital age, where peace is scarce and self-reflection is infrequent. In The Digital Examen, a podcast from IVP, author and pastor Jay Y. Kim converses with a variety of leaders, pastors, and scholars who are working to reorient their lives in the direction of listening, tuning their hearts and minds to hear the voice of God in all of its clarity, kindness, and strength.

Credits:

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPEXAMEN40 for 40% off and free shipping on any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Assistant Producer: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Manager: Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Life is a mysterious gift—a gift meant to be given for the sake of others.

While our individualistic and speed-driven culture urges us to prioritize our own needs and desires, serving others can offer us not only a profound sense of freedom but also a heart more attuned to noticing God every day. By lifting our gaze from ourselves, we recognize that walking slowly with God includes an invitation to live at the countercultural pace of his love.

As we conclude the second season of The Digital Examen, Jay Y. Kim reflects on our journey of learning to notice God together. Kim draws inspiration from the Romantic painting "The Wanderer above the Sea Fog," by Caspar David Friedrich, which helps us see beyond our immediate self-interests and embrace the ambiguities of life with God. Kim also illustrates the joy of living in service to others and intimacy with God. Finally, Kim invites us to go patiently with God by saturating ourselves in Scripture, making a regular practice of prayer, and inviting a local Christian community to accompany us along the way. In due time, these everyday practices will help attune us in heart, soul, mind, and strength to more readily experience God’s voice and presence, forming us into people who are more alive to him in all of life. 

As we offer our attention to the needs of others and daily spiritual rhythms, we can grow to notice God in all of the mundane and majestic moments of our everyday lives. Tune in to learn more.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• Experiencing freedom by casting our anxieties on God
• Noticing God through humility and service
• Trusting God to complete his work in you in due time

Links from the episode:

• Read the transcript here

God is present; do we notice him? As the world gets louder, listening to God’s voice becomes increasingly challenging. We are bombarded by the chaos of our feeds, by distractions both inside and out, and by the everyday cacophony that drowns out the calm of a life lived in close communion with God. In this season of The Digital Examen, pastor, and author Jay Y. Kim guides us toward reorienting our lives so that we can notice God with the entirety of our beings—heart, soul, mind, strength—in both the mundane and majestic moments of everyday life. 

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Read Analog Church and Analog Christian by Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen.

Links and Credits

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPOD25 for 25% off any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Production Assistant: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Managers: Allie Noble and Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Modern technology has become more than just a neutral tool—it has become a “superpower,” making the sensation of skill and semblance of progress almost effortless.

Personalized algorithms allow us to shed the seeming inconveniences of effort, connection, and patience that engage our human personhood.

In a landscape of automation and customization, how can we experience personal connection, satisfying discipline, and sincere growth in our everyday walk with God?

Join Jay Y. Kim as he welcomes Andy Crouch, renowned author, thought leader, and partner for theology and culture at Praxis. Crouch has written several influential books on faithful Christian living, including Culture Making, The Tech-Wise Family, Playing God, Strong and Weak, and, most recently, The Life We’re Looking For. 

In their conversation, Kim and Crouch explore the unique ways in which modern, “personalized” technologies are malforming our loves, desires, and sense of personhood. They discuss the unprecedented “superpower” that technology grants us to experience the illusion of power without the burden of effort. They draw a strong connection between our ever-shortening attention spans and our common struggle to experience God’s presence meaningfully every day. Our growing absence of personal discipline, coupled with waning relational connection, is informing a covert belief that following Jesus should be easy and require little day-to-day effort. Crouch challenges the way modern worship music often focuses on effortless spiritual experiences, which fails to speak to corporate realities and the full range of human experiences. Informed by Scripture and Christian history, Kim and Crouch encourage us to embrace God’s grace by committing to simple, time-tested spiritual practices that will open us up to the activity and presence of God over time.

Modern technologies seek to malform our sense of personhood through ease and convenience, yet the Christian life of noticing and experiencing God requires practice, focus, and intentionality.

Tune in to heed God’s call to a harder, better life sustained by grace.

This episode highlights the following themes:

• The illusion of effortless power in the digital age
• The distinction between personal and personalization
• The power of intentional, spiritual practices

Links from the episode:

• Learn more about Andy Crouch
• Read Andy Crouch's recent book, The Life We're Looking For: Reclaiming Relationship in a Technological World
• Read the transcript here

God is present; do we notice him? As the world gets louder, listening to God’s voice becomes increasingly challenging. We are bombarded by the chaos of our feeds, by distractions both inside and out, and by the everyday cacophony that drowns out the calm of a life lived in close communion with God. In this season of The Digital Examen, pastor, and author Jay Y. Kim guides us toward reorienting our lives so that we can notice God with the entirety of our beings—heart, soul, mind, strength—in both the mundane and majestic moments of everyday life. 

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Read Analog Church and Analog Christian by Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen.

Links and Credits

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPOD25 for 25% off any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Production Assistant: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Managers: Allie Noble and Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above. 

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Politics not only include who and what you vote for. It reveals how you see yourself, other people, and God. 

Our imaginations have been malformed by fear-inducing stories and unchecked allegiances, revealing not only our positions on a given issue but our deepest loves and loyalties. While it may seem that joining the “culture war” or withdrawing are our only political options, God offers another way.

In this episode, host Jay Y. Kim welcomes Kaitlyn Schiess, author, speaker, and perpetual theology student. She is the author of The Liturgy of Politics and The Ballot and the Bible, and her writing has been featured in Christianity Today, The New York Times, Relevant, and elsewhere. Schiess is a co-host and Senior Editor of the Holy Post podcast, and the host of Curiously, Kaitlyn. She has a ThM in systematic theology from Dallas Theological Seminary and is currently a doctoral student in theology at Duke Divinity School.

Kim and Schiess explore the revealing intersections of spiritual formation and politics, challenging us to prayerfully reflect on the allegiances shaping us. They discuss our need for an imagination that is reformed by the story of Scripture, rather than fear. They also contrast the empty promises of political figures with God's faithfulness to keep his abundantly better promises. In highlighting spiritual practices to help ground us in our local communities, they discuss the freedom and clarity we experience when we are secure in our identity in Christ and belonging with his people. When we know who we are, where we belong, and what story we believe, differences become less of a threat and more of an opportunity for curiosity, conversation, and connection.

Tune in for a refreshing opportunity to reflect on your political imagination with God. 

This episode highlights the following themes:

• Aligning our political loyalties with Scripture
• Prioritizing embodied presence with community
• Practicing spiritual disciplines to learn faithful politics

Links from this episode:

• Learn more about Kaitlyn Schiess
• Read Kaitlyn Schiess’ books, The Liturgy of Politics and The Ballot and the Bible
• Hear more from Kaitlyn Schiess on The Disrupters
• Read the transcript here

God is present; do we notice him? As the world gets louder, listening to God’s voice becomes increasingly challenging. We are bombarded by the chaos of our feeds, by distractions both inside and out, and by the everyday cacophony that drowns out the calm of a life lived in close communion with God. In this season of The Digital Examen, pastor, and author Jay Y. Kim guides us toward reorienting our lives so that we can notice God with the entirety of our beings—heart, soul, mind, strength—in both the mundane and majestic moments of everyday life. 

Learn more about The Digital Examen

Learn more about your host, Jay Y. Kim

Read Analog Church and Analog Christian by Jay Y. Kim

Listen to Meditations from The Digital Examen

Download a Guide to The Examen

Links and Credits

✅ Special offer: Visit ivpress.com and use the code IVPOD25 for 25% off any IVP resource mentioned in this episode.

✅ Consulting Producer: Helen Lee

✅ Producers: Christine Pelliccio Melo and Travis Albritton

✅ Production Assistant: Jack Reece

✅ Sound Engineering: Honest Podcasts

✅ Social Media Managers: Allie Noble and Makayla Payne

✅ Podcast Art: Kate Lillard and Elsbette San Blas

✅ Theme Song: "For They Will Inherit the Earth" by Stephen Keech

Disclaimer: The comments, views, and opinions expressed in this podcast are solely those of the host and/or the guests featured on the podcast and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of InterVarsity Press or InterVarsity Christian Fellowship.

As an Amazon Affiliate, this channel earns commissions from qualifying purchases when you use the links above. 

Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands