Theology on Purpose

Familiarity has a way of dulling our sense of wonder, even when it comes to God. In this solo episode, Sarah reflects on what exploring tide pools has taught her about discovering the extraordinary in familiar places. Through stories from Scripture and everyday life, she shares three practical ways to recover a sense of aw, and become freshly amazed by who God is and what God is doing. Take the Connect with God quiz here: https://connectwithgodquiz.com/

The stories we read can shape how we see God, ourselves, and the people around us. In this episode of Theology on Purpose, professor Bettina Tate Pedersen joins me to explore how literature can deepen our faith, cultivate empathy, and invite us to think more expansively about God.

We also talk about the relationship between feminism and Christianity, including common misconceptions about feminism in Christian spaces and how feminist thought has shaped Bettina's approach to Scripture, language, and theology. Along the way, Bettina shares the books that have formed her faith and the practices that help her continue to approach God with curiosity.

In this episode, you'll discover:

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How reading literature can cultivate empathy and deepen your faith

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Why stories can challenge and expand your understanding of God

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How to approach feminism and Christianity with curiosity rather than fear

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Why the language we use for God matters

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How close reading can help you engage Scripture more thoughtfully

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Why you don't have to surrender your responsibility as a reader to pastors or teachers

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How books outside the "Christian" category can still help us encounter God

Be sure to get all the show notes here: https://sarahkbutterfield.substack.com/s/podcast

Every day, we choose what to wear based on where we're going and what the day might hold. But what if we brought that same intentionality to the way we show up in the world?

Based on Paul's invitation in Colossians 3 to "clothe" ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, and love, Sarah explores what it means to intentionally put on the character of Christ—and why we do so not to earn God's love, but because we are already dearly loved. Take the Connect with God quiz here: https://connectwithgodquiz.com/

In this fascinating episode, author and professor Lanta Davis shares with us the important role art and imagination play in shaping our spiritual lives. Based on insights from her book Becoming by Beholding: The Power of Imagination in Spiritual Formation, Lanta shares how the images, stories, art, and ideas we encounter can shape not only what we believe, but who we are becoming.

In this episode, you'll:

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Learn how everyday inputs (media, stories, art) are forming your spiritual life

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Identify subtle cultural influences that may be distorting your view of Jesus

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Rethink spiritual formation as something to participate in, not just think about

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Discover why beauty, art, and physical spaces matter more to your faith than you may have considered

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Begin to notice how your attention forms your inner life

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Explore practical, low-pressure ways to engage practices that retrain your imagination

Get the show notes and see all the artwork here: https://sarahkbutterfield.substack.com/s/podcast

In a world that runs on noise and self-sufficiency, it's easy to forget the truth sustaining us moment by moment. This episode reflects on the gift of breath as a reminder of God's steady and sustaining nearness.

Drawing from a guest reflection by Kayla Craig and the practice of centering prayer, this episode explores what it means to stop striving and simply receive God's presence. Through Scripture, story, and spiritual practice, you'll be invited into a slower, more attentive way of being with God in the middle of ordinary life.

Take the Connect with God quiz here

In this episode, Sarah talks with Eric Clayton about his new book Where Wonder Leads and the surprising role imagination plays in our life with God. Drawing from Ignatian spirituality, Eric shares how stepping into stories—whether from Scripture, myth, or even fantasy—can become a meaningful way to pray and discern God's presence. Eric shares his insights about how moving beyond a "right answers" faith can open us to deeper encounter and transformation.

In this episode, you'll learn how to:

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Use imagination as a tool for prayer and spiritual growth

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Move from head knowledge to lived experience with God

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Recover a sense of wonder in everyday moments

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Recognize God's presence in ordinary life

Get the show notes here

In this episode, Sarah reflects on the limits we resist, the exhaustion that comes from pushing past them, and the invitation to embrace our finiteness as a place of spiritual growth. Rather than barriers to becoming who we're meant to be, our limits may be the very ground where a faithful, embodied life with God takes root. Take the Connect with God quiz here

If you don't think your body has much to do with your faith, think again! In this episode, Sarah sits down with Anna Rollins, author of Famished, to explore how purity culture and diet culture have shaped women's relationships with their bodies, desires, and God. Anna explains the "rhyming scripts" that taught a generation of women to stay small, silent, and self-controlled (and how those messages can distort both self-image and theology!)

Anna shares her journey toward a more integrated, grace-filled faith—one that embraces the body as good and invites a more compassionate, curious way of living.

In this episode, you'll learn:

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How purity culture and diet culture reinforce similar messages about control and worth

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Why these systems function like a "prosperity gospel"

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How rigid rules can distort your view of God and yourself

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Practical ways to discern between health and control

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What it looks like to reconnect with your body in a healthy, faith-filled way

Get the show notes here.

Looking to go deeper? Take the Connect with God quiz here.

In this solo episode, Sarah reflects on an unexpected encounter with a few very determined seagulls, and how it reshaped her understanding of silence and attention in the spiritual life. What started as a noisy, ordinary moment became an invitation to release expectations and simply keep quiet company with God. This episode explores why silence can feel uncomfortable, what it reveals beneath the surface, and how it forms us in deeper trust. Along the way, you'll discover a new way to approach encountering God in the middle of everyday life.

Join the Practicing Together community!

In this episode of Theology on Purpose, Sarah welcomes returning guest Jen Pollock Michel to explore the beauty and practicality of a "rule of life." In her explanation, a rule is a grace-filled framework for living with intention, rather than a rigid, spiritual to-do list. A rule helps you align your daily habits with love for God and neighbor right in the midst of your real, everyday life.

Jen shares how spiritual formation is already happening all around us, often without our awareness, and how a thoughtful rule of life can help us resist those cultural currents. Jen also shared great insights about the role of desire, the importance of community, and how constraints can actually lead to greater freedom, and peace.

In this episode, you'll learn how to:

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Reframe a "rule of life" as a flexible, life-giving practice rather than a rigid system

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Recognize the cultural forces already shaping your habits and desires

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Begin building spiritual practices that fit your current season and limitations

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Understand the role of desire in your spiritual formation (and how God reshapes it)

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Experience greater freedom by reducing decision fatigue and focusing on what matters most

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Lean into community as a vital part of sustaining your faith

For shownotes, click here.

To join the Practicing Together community on Substack, click here

Change rarely happens on our timetable. Whether a transition is welcomed or painful, the in-between can leave us feeling unsettled and disoriented.

In this episode, Sarah reflects on a summer day when shifting winds unexpectedly changed her family's plans, and what that experience taught her about navigating seasons of transition. She shares three practices for finding our footing when life changes.

If you're walking through a season of change, this episode offers encouragement to slow down, pay attention, and trust that God is present even in the uncomfortable middle. Ready to go deeper in your faith? Take the Connect with God quiz here

In this episode, Sarah talks with author Monika Kirkland about her book Ever With You and how prayer becomes a lifeline in the middle of busy, overwhelming seasons.

In this episode, you'll hear:

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How exhaustion and anxiety became a turning point toward deeper dependence on God

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Three common barriers to prayer

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Why waiting seasons can cultivate deeper trust and intimacy with God

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The shift from chasing "mountaintop" moments to encountering God in everyday life

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The balance of praying boldly while surrendering outcomes to God

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How hustle culture impacts our spiritual lives, and why rest is an act of trust

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Simple, practical ways to begin abiding with God in prayer

Get the show notes here

Take the Connect with God quiz here

In this solo episode, I share a story from my teenage years that unexpectedly shaped how I think about faith, spiritual practices, and knowing God. What began as a reluctant cup of coffee became a metaphor for how our spiritual appetite develops over time—and how many of us settle for a limited experience of God without realizing there is more.

Together, we explore what it means to "taste and see" for ourselves, how our formation influences our relationship with God, and why expanding our spiritual practices can deepen both our faith and our connection with others.

Join the Practicing Together community here: https://sarahkbutterfield.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode, Sarah sits down with spiritual director and author Cindy S. Lee to explore a more expansive, embodied approach to knowing God. Drawing from her book Our Unforming, Cindy unpacks the difference between knowing about God and experiencing the sacred in everyday life, while gently challenging the Western assumptions that often shape our faith.

Tune in to hear how awareness, humility, and simple spiritual practices can open us to deeper connection with God—and how the ongoing work of "unforming" helps us release what no longer serves us so we can grow in freedom, trust, and authenticity.

In this episode, you'll gain:

• A fresh, accessible starting point for engaging your faith • Insight into how Western culture has shaped your view of God • Permission to trust your experiences and desires in your spiritual life • A framework for letting go of limiting beliefs and practices • Practical encouragement to slow down and become more attentive to God

Click here for the shownotes: https://sarahkbutterfield.substack.com/s/podcast

Take the Connect with God quiz here: http://subscribepage.io/BtMXx4

This episode invites listeners to rethink what freedom in Christ is for: not self-focus or spiritual striving, but love. Through everyday examples and a gentle challenge, Sarah reflects on how our freedom is meant to be lived out in service to one another—and how even good things like spiritual practices can become burdens when they are disconnected from love.

She also shares an invitation to go deeper through a new monthly practice-based community connected to her newsletter, offering space to grow, reflect, and pursue faith together. Check it out here, and if you join before August 9, 2026, get a 20% discount with this link.

In this episode of Theology on Purpose, Sarah talks with pastor and author Doug Basler about how fiction can become a powerful spiritual practice. Drawing from his book All Swirling and Weaving, Doug shares how stories can awaken our hearts, deepen our faith, and reshape how we see God and the world.

In this episode, you'll learn:

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What the "Christian imagination" is and why it matters

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How fiction can form us in ways nonfiction sometimes can't

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A story about how a novel revealed hidden ambition in Doug's life

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How reading expands empathy and helps us love others well

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Practical ways to incorporate fiction into a busy life

Whether you love reading or want to rediscover it, this conversation will inspire you to see stories as more than entertainment—they can be a means of spiritual growth.

We all live by stories—about who we are, who God is, and what it means to live a faithful life. But what if some of those stories aren't actually true? In this episode, we explore the subtle narratives that shape our identity and faith, how they can fail us, and what it looks like to realign our lives with what is actually true.

What if time with God felt less like a task to complete and more like a place of rest? In this conversation, Cara Ray invites us into the practice of "holy leisure"—a way of relating to God marked by delight, attentiveness, and peace rather than pressure and performance. Drawing on the themes of truth, goodness, and beauty, she shares how shifting our mindset can transform our spiritual rhythms and help us experience deeper joy in God's presence.

Cara also introduces her simple DWELL framework for engaging Scripture and offers a vision of fruitfulness that isn't driven by productivity, but by abiding in Christ. Whether you're feeling spiritually dry, busy, or burdened, this episode will encourage you to rediscover time with God as a gift—not a checkbox.

In this episode, you'll learn:

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What "holy leisure" means and why it matters

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How to move from duty to delight in your time with God

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A simple framework for slowing down and savoring Scripture

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How meditation fits into a vibrant spiritual life

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The difference between a productive life and a fruitful one

Take the Connect with God quiz here

Get the show notes here

In this solo episode of Theology on Purpose, I share how an unexpected interruption became an invitation to slow down and rediscover joy. In a season marked by full schedules and creeping productivity, I began to notice how difficult it had become to truly rest—and even harder to remember how to play.

This episode explores the connection between spiritual formation and delight, and how practices like creativity, leisure, and embodied rest can draw us closer to Jesus. Through small, intentional changes, I found a renewed sense of freedom, spaciousness, and joy in my everyday life. You can too! Just listen in.

Take the Connect with God quiz here

In this tender conversation, Lara D'Entremont, author of A Mother Held: Essays on Anxiety and Motherhood, shares her journey through postpartum anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and OCD, and how motherhood brought both deep love and deep vulnerability. We explore how anxiety can challenge our understanding of God's goodness and sovereignty, and what it looks like to rebuild trust in God when fear feels overwhelming.

Lara offers a compassionate vision of God as one who draws near to us in our suffering with tenderness and care. This episode is an invitation to practice "theology from the floor"—coming to God in the middle of exhaustion, doubt, and uncertainty, and learning to receive God's grace right there.

In this episode, you'll hear:

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How motherhood can magnify anxiety and our sense of lack of control

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Lara's experience with postpartum anxiety, OCD, and intrusive thoughts

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Wrestling with God's sovereignty and goodness in seasons of fear

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What it looks like to bring honest questions to God

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Engaging faith in the midst of real life

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Simple spiritual practices for anxious and weary seasons

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Reframing God's character as compassionate, not condemning

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The role of community, therapy, and honest conversation in healing

Get the show notes here

Take the Connect with God quiz here