Restoring the Soul with Michael John Cusick

“In spite of a hundred disadvantages, the world will always return to monogamy. Covenantal sex remembers us.” - Carolyn WeberOn this edition of Restoring the Soul, Michael welcomes Carolyn Weber to the podcast.The title of today’s podcast is Sex and the City of God and even though the word “sex” is in the title, you will find out in today’s spirited conversation, Carolyn’s book of the same name is surely and mostly about marriage―what comes before and what we receive afterward. It is about all the most important loves we have and how they grow softly and strong and sturdy over time. Through her personal story, as well as spiritual, theological, and literary reflection, you will discover that Carolyn explores what life looks like when we choose to love God first.Carolyn Weber is the award-winning author of Surprised by Oxford and is also an international speaker. Dr. Weber holds her MPhil and DPhil from Oxford University, England and has served as faculty at a number of colleges including Seattle University and Westmont College. Her first memoir, Surprised by Oxford won among other distinctions the Grace Irwin Award, the largest award for Christian writing in Canada.In this podcast, we hope you will discover:Sex is a signpost or foretaste (foreshadowing) of our relationship with God.Our basic desire is to be fully known.Grace isn’t karma and grace isn’t accumulative.Support the showENGAGE THE RESTORING THE SOUL PODCAST:- Follow us on YouTube - Tweet us at @michaeljcusick and @PodcastRTS- Like us on Facebook- Follow us on Instagram & Twitter- Follow Michael on Twitter- Email us at info@restoringthesoul.com Thanks for listening!

“Masculine power is intended to be good when it’s wholehearted and in the service of love.” - Morgan SnyderOn this edition of Restoring the Soul, Michael welcomes Morgan Snyder to the podcast.Morgan is a grateful husband of over 20 years and a proud father of a wildly creative and witty daughter and a joyful and passionate son. He serves as a strategist, entrepreneur, teacher, writer, and speaker. In 2010, he established BecomeGoodSoil and serves on the executive leadership team at Wild at Heart alongside John and Stasi Eldredge. Morgan goes off the grid every chance he gets, whether bow hunting in the Colorado wilderness or choosing the adventurous life with his greatest treasures: his wife, Cherie; his son, Joshua; and his daughter, Abigail.Michael and Morgan discuss, “Becoming a King, The Path to Restoring the Heart of a Man.”In this podcast, we hope you will discover:Why should this issue of power be a category for men?The common ways men respond to the desire to wield power.What is a generalist and why is it so important for a man to get his heart back?Support the showENGAGE THE RESTORING THE SOUL PODCAST:- Follow us on YouTube - Tweet us at @michaeljcusick and @PodcastRTS- Like us on Facebook- Follow us on Instagram & Twitter- Follow Michael on Twitter- Email us at info@restoringthesoul.com Thanks for listening!

“The invitation is participation.” - Aaron NiequistOn this edition of Restoring the Soul, Michael welcomes Liturgist, Writer, and Pastor Aaron Niequist. Currently living in NYC, Aaron’s career has taken him from leading worship at Mars Hill Church alongside Rob Bell and Willow Creek just outside of Chicago. He has also created A New Liturgy - a collection of modern liturgical worship recordings.In 2018, Aaron released a book about a practice-based faith called The Eternal Current: How a Practice-Based Faith Can Save Us from Drowning, which serves as the foundation of he and Michael’s discussion. Be sure to listen all the way through as Aaron will guide you through a special time of prayer and meditation.You can find out more about Aaron on his website. Be sure to subscribe and download his podcast, The Eternal Current.In this podcast, we hope you will discover:Every church has a liturgy. It’s what we do when we come together.Churches give great inspiration. They give great content. But they’re not in the transformation business.Spiritual disciplines are so important because they help us open up and receive.Support the showENGAGE THE RESTORING THE SOUL PODCAST:- Follow us on YouTube - Tweet us at @michaeljcusick and @PodcastRTS- Like us on Facebook- Follow us on Instagram & Twitter- Follow Michael on Twitter- Email us at info@restoringthesoul.com Thanks for listening!

“When we see God’s heart, our own heart becomes free.” - Michael John CusickOn this edition of Restoring the Soul, we’re featuring a talk Michael gave to Denver Seminary students titled, “Less Is More”. The essence of the message is about our need to be still and rest in what God has done for us in Christ. And that the depth of our relationship with God is going to be directly related to the depth at which you enter into your own soul.In this podcast, we hope you will discover:We were created for union with God.Union with God is not something that we must attain.We become grounded in union with God through attentiveness.Support the showENGAGE THE RESTORING THE SOUL PODCAST:- Follow us on YouTube - Tweet us at @michaeljcusick and @PodcastRTS- Like us on Facebook- Follow us on Instagram & Twitter- Follow Michael on Twitter- Email us at info@restoringthesoul.com Thanks for listening!

“The number one cause of leadership failure is never a skill let down. It’s isolation.” - Bill ThrallOn this edition of Restoring the Soul, we’re featuring a conversation Michael had with Bill Thrall. If you’re a leader - in any capacity in your life - you’re going to find great connection and value in this discussion.Bill is a co-founder of Trueface, an organization committed to helping people experience authentic, trust-filled relationships by emphasizing the importance of humility, trust & grace. His influence can also be experienced through books like The Cure, The Ascent of a Leader, Bo’s Café, and High Trust Cultures.In this podcast, we hope you will discover:The number one cause of leadership failure.Holiness is not about the absence of sin but in the presence of love & light.When grace is cognitive, it’s one of our theologies. When it’s experiential it’s foundational.Support the showENGAGE THE RESTORING THE SOUL PODCAST:- Follow us on YouTube - Tweet us at @michaeljcusick and @PodcastRTS- Like us on Facebook- Follow us on Instagram & Twitter- Follow Michael on Twitter- Email us at info@restoringthesoul.com Thanks for listening!

“There’s something about shame you can’t heal on your own.” - Michael John CusickOn this edition of Restoring the Soul, we’re concluding a 5-part series on the way shame fuels addiction. Longtime friend to Restoring the Soul, Peter Zaremba, joins Michael for this all-important conversation that shows that the foundation of shame is connected to the false self and the belief that you need to be something you are not. If this particular series of podcasts have been a blessing to you, could you take a moment to let us know? You can connect with us through the Restoring the Soul website or you can comment where you download the podcast. We always love to hear about your personal growth as a result of listening and digesting the content found here on Restoring the Soul. We find great joy in bringing it to you - and are always thrilled to hear there are people out there who are different as a result of taking it all in. Thank you.In this podcast, we hope you will discover:That shame gives marching orders to the false self.The importance of relationship and regulation as it relates to healing.There’s something about shame and healing from it that requires relationship.Support the showENGAGE THE RESTORING THE SOUL PODCAST:- Follow us on YouTube - Tweet us at @michaeljcusick and @PodcastRTS- Like us on Facebook- Follow us on Instagram & Twitter- Follow Michael on Twitter- Email us at info@restoringthesoul.com Thanks for listening!

“The Enneagram takes into account that the human personality is fluid, not static.” - Ian Morgan CronOn this episode of Restoring the Soul, we’re featuring a conversation between Michael John Cusick and Ian Morgan Cron that took place just before the release of his third book, “The Road Back to You”. They discussed Ian’s introduction to the Enneagram and how it has impacted him over the years. They also covered the crucial need of self-knowledge, the beauty of the Gospel, and the counter intuitive idea that we grow in loving others as we grow in loving ourselves.If you are not familiar with Ian, he is a bestselling author, nationally recognized speaker, Enneagram teacher, psychotherapist, Dove Award–winning songwriter, and Episcopal priest. He also hosts an amazing podcast, Typology.As you will discover, Ian draws on a wide array of disciplines—from psychology to the arts, Christian spirituality and theology—to help people enter more deeply into conversation with God and the mystery of their own lives.Support the showENGAGE THE RESTORING THE SOUL PODCAST:- Follow us on YouTube - Tweet us at @michaeljcusick and @PodcastRTS- Like us on Facebook- Follow us on Instagram & Twitter- Follow Michael on Twitter- Email us at info@restoringthesoul.com Thanks for listening!

“Our deepest desire is for connection.” - Michael John CusickWhat do you long for? How about thirst? And what are your desires? God has uniquely wired us for connection; it is the essence of our being. To know and be known.Welcome to Restoring the Soul, a podcast dedicated to helping you close the gap from what you’re meant to be and what keeps you from being all that. On this edition, Michael continues a series of podcasts on how shame fuels addiction. Today, he guides us through seven core longings of our heart and questions that are associated with each longing. We encourage you to catch up on previous episodes that also include conversations with Restoring the Soul colleague, Kelley Gray.Support the showENGAGE THE RESTORING THE SOUL PODCAST:- Follow us on YouTube - Tweet us at @michaeljcusick and @PodcastRTS- Like us on Facebook- Follow us on Instagram & Twitter- Follow Michael on Twitter- Email us at info@restoringthesoul.com Thanks for listening!

“In being known, I can simply rest...and be.” - Michael John CusickOn this edition of Restoring the Soul, Michael continues a 5-part series of podcasts on how shame fuels addiction. We encourage you to catch up on previous episodes that also include conversations with Michael’s colleague, Kelley Gray.The statement Michael will address today in part 3 of the series is centered around where shame tells us we can’t get our needs met. This couldn’t be farther from the truth...Support the showENGAGE THE RESTORING THE SOUL PODCAST:- Follow us on YouTube - Tweet us at @michaeljcusick and @PodcastRTS- Like us on Facebook- Follow us on Instagram & Twitter- Follow Michael on Twitter- Email us at info@restoringthesoul.com Thanks for listening!

On this edition of Restoring the Soul, Michael concludes his conversation with composer, arranger, producer, singer, songwriter, and musician Rob Mathes. Rob is a Grammy-nominated, Tony-nominated artist who won an Emmy award for his musical direction of the Kennedy Center Honors.In Part 2, a few of the topics Rob and Michael discuss include:How Rob’s song, “Although It Is the Night” was inspired by St. John of The Cross’s poem “Dark Night of the Soul”.Why great music mixes the sacred and the profane, “the gears grinding and the heavens singing.”Understand why Rob feels it’s important to “poke holes” at aspects of Christianity that are seemingly crazy.Support the showENGAGE THE RESTORING THE SOUL PODCAST:- Follow us on YouTube - Tweet us at @michaeljcusick and @PodcastRTS- Like us on Facebook- Follow us on Instagram & Twitter- Follow Michael on Twitter- Email us at info@restoringthesoul.com Thanks for listening!