Host Geoff Holsclaw interviews Dr. Kyle Strobel (Institute for Spiritual Formation, Talbot School of Theology) about his book When God Seems Distant: Surprising Ways God Deepens Our Faith and Draws Us Near.

Kyle explains “early consolation” as a common season where God gives pleasure and zeal that can mask unformed character, and how this can be followed by “the desert” where these early consolations are removed. But these seasons are God’s gift to reveal the heart and grow love.

Follow Dr. Strobel on his Substack.

Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.

Stay Connected:

• Check out our Attaching to God 6-Week Learning Cohort.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

During this Easter week, Geoff and Cyd Holsclaw talk about how we walk by faith, and not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7), but that this isn't just blind faith. They discuss walking by faith, emphasizing that Christian faith is relational trust and attachment rather than merely ideas, and that faith crises often begin with emotional wounds and ruptures in church relationships that later get translated into doctrinal doubt.

They argue resurrection faith is not blind, citing reasons why it is reasonable to believe that Jesus really was raised from the grave. They close by reflecting on trust in everyday relationships, Jesus’ experience of betrayal, Psalm 121, and Aaron's Blessing.

Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.

Stay Connected:

• Check out our Attaching to God 6-Week Learning Cohort.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).

In this episode of the Attaching to God podcast, Geoff and Cyd Holsclaw explore the ancient Christian “Great Exchange”, that Jesus became what we are so we could become what he is—taking on humanity, sin, weakness, and death to give righteousness, strength, adoption, and life. They contrast Peter’s Passion-week emotional “yo-yo” with Jesus’ steady “yes,” holding both intimacy and independence with the Father and his disciples through the Last Supper, Gethsemane, and the cross. The episode closes with a palms-up/palms-down practice of releasing what we carry and receiving what Christ has already accomplished, a short prayer, and a blessing.

Dive deeper in our new book, Landscapes of the Soul: How the Science and Spirituality of Attachment Can Move You into Confident Faith, Courage, and Connection, and learn about our trainings and other resources at embodiedfaith.life.

Stay Connected:

• Check out our Attaching to God 6-Week Learning Cohort.
• Join the Embodied Faith community to stay connected and get posts, episodes, & resources.
• Support the podcast with a one-time or regular gift (to keep this ad-free without breaking the Holsclaw's bank).