Episodes
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If you follow a Christian woman between the ages of 20 and 40 on Instagram, then you’ve 1000% seen Morgan’s work. She does these beautiful, inspiring, super shareable quotes and thoughts over wonderful artwork and once they get to the internet they just go EVERYWHERE.
I remember seeing Morgan play music once or twice when one of her previous careers overlapped with my orbit. But who would have thought that she’d one day call herself a POET and be doing what she’s doing now, running her own business with the books, journals, stickers, and who knows what else that flows from her current creativity.
She’s got a new book that comes out next week called “How Far You Have Come” and I loved hearing the story of how this book came about. In fact, I loved our whole interview.
I started this whole podcast because I was hearing a lot of stories of people’s big successes, but I was in the midst of my own personal failure, and I desperately needed to hear that my story wasn’t over. Her story is so inspiring because, while what she’s doing now is doing quite well, it’s a really human tale with a lot of wandering, failure, fear, questions and the tenacity of just NEEDING to keep trying until something works.
I’m so glad it did.
You can get Morgan’s new book, as well as the stickers and a bunch of other amazing things, plus her 4-minute daily podcast, at MorganHarperNichols.com
Follow her on Instagram!
Also, don’t forget to join the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB! FH.org/pivot
And get your tickets to the WhiteOwlMusicFest - Jars, Sandra, me and a bunch of others at a socially distant music festival outside Nashville on May 29.
Also, here’s a little Andy O music, too!
Thank you all!
Now go do something awesome.
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MY GOODNESS. I loved this conversation.
Douglas McKelvey is a most fascinating human. He’s the author of two incredible books of liturgies, the second actually releases this week and is called Every Moment Holy, Vol. 2: Death, Grief and Hope. He’s also a fantastic songwriter who doesn’t sing or play music, but has penned the lyrics to over 350 songs recorded by a variety of artists including Switchfoot, Kenny Rogers, Sanctus Real, and Jason Gray. He’s been a scriptwriter and video director and a lot of things in between.
Like me, he’s a father of three daughters. Also, like me, he’s spent a lot of time doing whatever he could to just keep the lights on that, in retrospect, look like a full, inspiring and rich life.
And that work history is only part of the story. Beyond that there’s a deeper narrative of bravely and intentionally moving away from isolation and towards friendship and community. Doug’s a decade or so ahead of me and he got his start in Nashville with a close little group of friends, led by Charlie Peacock, who have pretty much all become heroes and mentors of mine.
All of that leads so clearly, now, to his work writing these liturgies in Every Moment Holy, and it is wonderful to see how astonishingly successful they are. These books mean a lot to a lot of people, and when you hear all the work and love that Doug puts into creating these, you’ll understand why.
I’ll say it again at the end, but go to everymomentholy.com to order your copy of Every Moment Holy and the new Volume 2: Death, Grief and Hope.
And please, friends, join us at the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!!
Go to fh.org/pivot to sign up today!
Get your tickets to the White Owl Music Fest!! Just outside of Nashville on May 29.
Also, here’s a little Andy O music, too!
Thank you all!
Now go do something awesome.
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Lynn Holloway was an Imagineer for Disney and has designed all kinds of amazing things, from theme parks to Danish parades to Super Bowl halftime shows. He’s a visual storyteller working in three dimensions and his work is fascinating.
But this is really more of a love story; How a fear of intimacy left him in years of loneliness, and how finally facing those fears in the shadow of his father’s passing, set him on a new path towards love, family and healing.
Unlike a lot of my guests, Lynn’s career has been a bit of a straight arrow. The pivot for him has been the life surrounding his job. This is a beautiful story and I deeply enjoyed this conversation.
And please, friends, join us at the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!! Go to fh.org/pivot to sign up today!
Get your tickets to the White Owl Music Fest!! Just outside of Nashville on May 29.
Also, here’s a little Andy O music, too!
Thank you all!
Now go do something awesome.
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After 20 years as a singer/songwriter, Jill Phillips went back to school to get her Masters in counseling and is now a full-time Marriage and Family therapist (who still plays music!)
To anyone who knows Jill at all, this career transition is not surprising. She is an incredibly wise and empathetic friend to many, and even her songs are often based on the themes of carrying each other’s burdens, and holding grief and hope together in the same hand.
We were originally going to do this interview in her new counseling office, so I could sit on her couch and, you know, get the full experience, but then it was a beautiful Spring day and we decided to just sit on their back porch and catch up. You might hear a few airplanes flying over, but you also might hear a lot of birds chirping, too. It was worth it.
These days, when I see Jill, it’s usually while we’re working on music or in line at Ladybird Taco, so I’ve not gotten the full story until this chat. I’ve watched her sitting and doing homework in soundcheck the past four years, though, and it’s been inspiring to see how focused and driven she is on learning better and better how to love and care for people.
Glad you guys hit play on this one, I think you’re really going to enjoy it.
If you want to learn more about Jill or hear her wonderful music you can go to JillPhillips.com
Get your tickets to the White Owl Music Fest!! Just outside of Nashville on May 29.
And please, friends, join us at the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!! Go to fh.org/pivot to sign up today!
Also, here’s a little Andy O music, if you’re interested…
Thank you all!
Now go do something awesome.
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Rob Touchstone is co-founder of The Well Coffeeshop, a chain of non-profit coffeeshops who donate their profits to providing clean water wells to communities in poverty all over the world. (It’s also just a really good coffeeshop.) Besides that, Rob is an entrepreneur, a business professor, and a pastor here in Nashville, TN.
This is a great story, how Rob moved from being a theologically trained youth pastor to the creator and Director of Lipscomb University’s Center for Business As Mission, where he teaches and mentors students to think missionally about business and entrepreneurship.
A mutual friend connected Rob and I a few months ago and I’d like to think we became fast friends. I love the work that he’s doing and I’m so thankful for what he’s created here in Nashville.
You can connect with Rob and find a lot of his teaching at RobTouchstone.com
Or learn more about The Well Coffeehouse
And aren’t you inspired to put some good into the world after listening to this? Go to FH.org/pivot and join the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB now. Join Food For The Hungry in giving a family some chickens and teaching them how to use them to bring flourishing and prospering to their communities.
Also, here’s a little Andy O music, if you’re interested…
Thank you all!
Now go do something awesome.
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David Zach is an abolitionist in a rock and roll band. He has traveled all over the world, going undercover to help rescue girls from slavery and sex trafficking. It’s a wild story.
But 9-to-5, David is the frontman for the band, Remedy Drive. The band started as four brothers and we got to talk about how they had to quit being in a band together to be good brothers. It is also a pretty wild story. Maybe not quite as wild as going undercover in a Thailand nightclub.
It was really fascinating to learn about the work David and the organization he’s a part of, Exodus Road, are doing in some of the most dangerous places on Earth.
Get involved with David and The Exodus Road at remedydrive.com/action
Watch this great short documentary on their work HERE.
And definitely go listen to Remedy Drive’s new album, IMAGO AMOR.
And please, friends, join us at the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!! Go to fh.org/pivot to sign up today!
Also, here’s a little Andy O music, if you’re interested…
Thank you all!
Now go do something awesome.
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I’m not sure exactly when I started following Michael Wear’s work. I think I just gradually noticed that a lot of people I respected continued to quote him and reference him, so I had to go see who this guy was.
Well, it turns out, this guy is pretty dang amazing. The headline is that he led the faith outreach for Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign, served in the White House, leading evangelical outreach and helping to manage The White House’s engagement on religious and values issues. That’s pretty awesome.
But what drives all of this great work is that Michael draws from a deep well of his own personal faith, his growing-any-day-now family, and a strong and intentional community.
I won’t lie. I was really looking forward to this interview, and then it was SO MUCH MORE AWESOME than I expected. It was just a joy to talk with Michael and I feel like I genuinely learned a great deal. I will be listening to this episode a couple more times, I promise you that.
You can find Michael all over the internet:
on his website michealwear.com
Twitter @michaelrwear
Or you can subscribe for more in depth weekly articles and commentary at reclaiminghope.substack.com
Most importantly, join us at the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!! Go to fh.org/pivot to sign up today!
And here’s my music, if you’re interested…
Thank you all!
Now go do something awesome.
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This conversation I had with Justin McRoberts was one of my favorites in a long while. I took a few great practical things away from this, as well as just deeply enjoying the time.
Justin’s work has taken on many shapes over the years: pastor, author, singer/songwriter, YoungLife guy, career coach, podcaster… but at the heart of it, he’s really done one thing this whole time. You’ll have to listen to find out what it is.
Also, his books on prayer: “Prayer” and “May It Be So”, are very much two of my favorites.
I feel like I know Justin way more than the amount of time we’ve spent together should allow. He just goes deep fast and so when we do get to spend time together, it always feels like it counts.
I think a lot of people feel that way about Justin, and after you spend this next hour with us, I hope you feel it, too.
You can find his books, his coaching and courses, and his music at justinmcroberts.com
And check out his podcast “At Sea”
Most importantly, join us at the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!! Go to fh.org/pivot to sign up today!
And here’s my music, if you’re interested…
Thank you all!
Now go do something awesome.
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Stu G. The legend. Like many of us, I first learned about Stu through his epic guitar presence in the band, Delirious, who basically introduced the world to modern worship music.
Over the years I have heard people talk about Stu in hushed whispers and deep reverence. People don’t just like his guitar playing; This is a guy who carries deep respect. About a year and a half ago I started to find myself in the same rooms and got to know him just a little and I understood immediately that this guy was a deep well.
He’s spent the past few years curating a film / book / music and e-course project around the Beatitudes: Jesus’s “Blessed are the poor, Blessed are the weak…” teachings from the Sermon on the Mount.
Plus, we got to chat about him playing guitar with Michael W Smith and me with Steven Curtis Chapman. Perhaps it’s about time that Stu G and I start a band called Secret Adventure.
NOBODY KNEW HIS SECRET GREAT ADVENTURE!!
To learn about The Beatitudes Project CLICK HERE
Follow Stu on Instagram
Guitar nerds! Get his tones for your Helix or Kemper!
Most importantly, join us at the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!! Go to fh.org/pivot to sign up today!
And here’s my music, if you’re interested…
Thank you all!
Now go do something awesome.
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Songwriter, author, recording artist, mother… These are just a few of the hats Cindy Morgan wears. As a songwriter she’s been a part of many more songs than you would imagine, from artists like Vince Gill, India.Arie, Rascal Flatts, Ricky Skaggs, Amy Grant, Mandisa to Brandon Heath, Sandra McCracken, Josh Garrels, Sierra Hull, and EchoSmith. As you’ll learn, Cindy just writes ALL the time.
I’ve gotten to work with her musically a few times in various places over the years and it’s been wonderful. But more than that, she has been a clear and consistent voice of kindness and encouragement to me and that has really meant a lot.
It was such a treat to sit down and hear more about her journey, and talk about long-lost Nashville restaurant, The West End Cooker, and why High School Musical is so strangely great.
Listen to Cindy’s new single with her band St. Lola in the Fields - and follow them on instagram.
For more about Cindy and her writing, check out her website, or follow her on instagram.
Most importantly, join us at the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!! Go to fh.org/pivot to sign up today!
And here’s my music, if you’re interested…
Thank you all!
Now go do something awesome.
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FRIENDS!! It has been a long time!! I did not intend to take this long between episodes, but between the election and a little Christmas covid (all recovered now, thankfully) it’s felt like a good time to take a little break. But we’re back now with a GREAT one!!
Professor Paul C. H. Lim (PhD, Cambridge) is associate professor of the history of Christianity (Divinity School) and affiliate professor of history (College of Arts & Science) at Vanderbilt University, and is an award-winning historian of Reformation - and post-Reformation Europe. One of his books, Mystery Unveiled: The Crisis of the Trinity in Early Modern England, won the 2013 Roland H. Bainton Prize as the best book in history/theology by the Sixteenth Century Society and Conference.
I’ve been a part of a nine-month fellows program with the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work and Dr. Lim has been teaching us through some of the great works of historical Chrstianity (Luther, Calvin, Augustine) as well as current authors like Tim Keller, N.T. Wright and Latasha Morrison. It is, to put it politely, kicking my butt and is one of the highlights of my week right now.
Paul studied at Yale, Princeton and Cambridge before teaching at Gordon Conwell and now Vanderbilt. I’ve been a rising sophomore since 1998.
Getting to know Dr. Lim and learn from his wisdom in a small group setting this past number of months has been incredible and I can’t wait for you to get to know him over this next hour as the Pivot returns from hiatus!!
Hear more from Paul in this interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ9TfkdgeFc&ab_channel=DigAndDelve
You can find Paul’s books at:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=paul+c.h.+lim&dc&ref=a9_asc_1
CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!!!
Click here to check out my music.
Thank you for listening! Now go do something awesome!
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Santosh John is from India and now lives in Atlanta, where he recently founded the3CG.com - a ministry for people of a Third Culture, who don’t live in their birth or heritage country but also don’t quite fit into the culture in which they live in now.
This was the first ever LIVE episode of The Pivot. Santosh John and I got to have this conversation as a part of the Rabbit Room’s virtual 2020 Hutchmoot Homebound conference.
We got to talk about exile, family, science, 90’s radio jams, Rich Mullins and Caedmon’s Call, all in front of a small, kind and socially distant audience of the Rabbit Room community.
This was a powerful and moving interview that first aired during the conference a few weeks ago and I’m so thrilled to share it with you today.
You can find Santosh and his wife Shiny, at The3cg.com
CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!!!
Click here to check out my music.
Thank you for listening! Now go do something awesome!
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It’s safe to say that not many kids grew up more deeply in the bubble of evangelicalism than Barnabas Piper. It’s led to some amazing books: about being a pastor’s kid, about doubt, and about having the ability to ask hard questions of God.
Now Barnabas is an author, a father, and a new pastor after two decades in the book publishing business. He wrote a new book called “Hoping For Happiness” as he was making that career change.
I love that he calls himself a “recovering cynic”, as that’s a phrase I’ve attached to myself, and it was great to get to talk to him about it. Barnabas is one smart dude and I’m so thankful he’s taken his experience and wisdom and shared it with us.
You can find Barnabas at his website BarnabasPiper.com
You can order his new book “Hoping For Happiness” here.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!!!
Click here to check out my music.
Thank you for listening! Now go do something awesome!
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Every single person who knows Tim Timmons seems to have this same response when his name comes up: “Dude! Timmons! I LOVE that guy!” It just seems like he has poured his heart and life into every third person I’ve met in the past few years.
He’s a musician, a pastor by default, a writer and a family man. The crazy thing? Twenty years ago he was told he had five years to live. Talk about a pivot, right? For Tim this has led to a conscious decision to rejoice that, as he says, “I woke up today!”
Tim’s new single “You Never Let Go” just released a couple weeks ago, and it is so good it has genuinely brought tears to my eyes.
I have wholeheartedly joined the club of people who say “Timmons! I love that guy!” Listen in and I think you’ll feel the same.
Click here to listen to “You Never Let Go”
Here’s 10,000 Minutes and here’s Tim’s instagram.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!!!
Click here to check out my music.
Thank you for listening! Now go do something awesome!
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Ben Young is an author, a speaker, and a pastor at Second Baptist Church in Houston (one of the largest churches in Texas), But what’s super fun about this for me is that he is the brother of one of my former bandmates, Cliff Young, of Caedmon’s Call. I used to see Ben ALL the time, as the band really used Second Baptist as our headquarters. It’s where we rehearsed, borrowed musical gear (with at least the intent to eventually return it), and ate, as Cliff would always say, all the Nutter Butters a Baptist Church could give us.
Ben just released a book LAST WEEK called "Survive the Day: Thriving in the Midst of LIfe's Storms". It’s a good book for the Pivot Podcast if ever there was one. And most definitely a good book for whatever you want to call this hot mess of a year we’re all living through.
What I love about this book is that it’s relational and easy to read, but also really USEFUL. He takes his years of experience not only as a pastor, but also as a person who has lived through a lot of pain, to give practical tools and insight to actually help you navigate those metaphorical “storms” we all go through.
It was so fun to “virtually” see him again and to catch up, and to finally thank him for causing the emotional pain that went on to provide for my family in my 20’s.
CLICK HERE to get Ben’s book and HERE for his website
CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!!!
Click here to check out my music.
Thank you for listening! Now go do something awesome!
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Davy Basinger was the lead singer of a band called Bleach. If you were in a youth group in an American church in 1998 then you know EXACTLY who I’m talking about. Bleach and my first band, The Normals, were on the same label and had the same manager, and so we found ourselves getting to play a bunch of shows with them when we were getting started. They were a few years ahead of us and they became like super cool older cousins to us.
Davy and I actually reconnected while working on the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB with Food For The Hungry, where he works now. He designed the amazing coffee mug I’m posting here with my adorable parents. It’s been so fun to catch up and this was really special to me.
We got to cover a lot of ground, from songwriting to his work with Food for the Hungry to living in an RV and starting over after divorce. This was a wild one and so fun.
Bleach / Normals reunion show after we get out of quarantine, Davy? I’ve got a super good feeling about it…
To catch up with Davy on your own, you can find his instagram HERE.
CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB!!!!
CLICK HERE to see Eric Brown’s beautiful garden prints.
Click here to check out my music.
Thank you for listening! Now go do something awesome!
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Christine Dente is best known as one half of the duo Out of the Grey, but of course, she’s much more than that, particularly to their three kids and now two grandkids.
I don’t know her terribly well, but I saw she had just written her first novel and that fascinated me, so I was thrilled when she was into coming over and chatting about it.
I won’t lie, I jumped in way too deep too fast for any trained interviewer. But I’m not a trained interviewer, and Christine was right there with me, and it was SO GOOD.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, and you’ll hear us even talk about it in a bit, but the biggest thing I can tell when I do these interviews is who has done the work and who hasn’t. Christine Dente has done the work. And it shows. And I am thankful for what she is putting out into the world because we all get to learn from that work. It’s inspiring.
Also, a fun little detail, Out of the Grey made most of their records here in this studio, too, back when it was Charlie Peacock’s place, so it was especially fun to get to invite her back here to talk about that time but also what she’s doing now.
You can find Christine and her writing at ChristineDenteOutOfTheGrey.com
And you can order her novel, The Woman In The Willow here.
Sign up today for the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB with Food for the Hungry!
Click Here to hear my music.
Thanks for listening! And now, go do something awesome!
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Chris Llewellyn was excited to come over and NOT talk about music. I met him years ago when I worked closely for a season with his band, Rend Collective. That crew is easily the hardest working bunch of musicians I’ve ever met, and quarantine, while not great for business, has given Chris some time to breathe deep and take a little break for a bit.
It was fun to catch up and talk about Chris’s journey from the coast of Northern Ireland to a vagabond life across America to being (somewhat) settled here in Nashville with his wife and young son. He’s also in super freaking good shape and we got to talk about how that happens, which seems to remain a mystery to me.
Chris is both a deep well and a hilarious dude and it was wonderful to have this chat.
Rend Collective’s new EP “Socially Distant Worship Club Pt 1” is out now.
Click here for Chris’s instagram page.
Sign up today for the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB with Food for the Hungry!
Click Here to hear my music.
Thanks for listening! And now, go do something awesome!
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I’m a big fan of Savannah Locke. She is an incredibly gifted writer and communicator, and as always, my conversation with her went places I did not expect. We talk about hiring your replacement, starting a business, John Mayer’s middle name… We call a number of grown men “angel babies”.
Most powerfully for me, we got to unpack the season of life where we met: When she was trying to see if the musician career path was for her, and I was a really green record label guy who wished he could be a better guide for her than he was.
This one was so fun, so challenging, and so wide-ranging. You’ll just have to listen for yourself.
You can find Savannah and her writing at SavannahLocke.com
Sign up today for the CHICKEN OF THE MONTH CLUB with Food for the Hungry!
Click Here to hear my music.
Thanks for listening! And now, go do something awesome!
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You might know Janice Gaines as an award-winning Gospel singer, which she is. But there are so many other incredible things about Janice you have to know: She is brilliant. She got her Masters of Divinity because learning Greek and Hebrew sounded FUN. She’s a mother of two young boys, a wife, a nationally recognized speaker, and she’s on staff at her local predominately white church, as directory of diversity. In 2020. She’s got a lot going on.
She also teaches an online course on diversity, racial reconciliation, and the Gospel. It starts next week, Aug 4, and it’s called Braving the Deep and you need to sign up for it. You can go to janicegaines.com to sign up.
I loved talking with Janice. It is always a gift to spend time with people who radiate kindness and wisdom and joy, so you won’t want to miss this one!
CLICK HERE for Janice’s music or HERE to sign up for Braving the Deep!
CLICK HERE to join the Chicken of the Month Club with Food for the Hungry!
CLICK HERE for my music.
Now go do something awesome.
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