What Christians should know about Gen Z is at the forefront of this engaging conversation between Dr. Ray Mitsch and Sarah Zylstra. The episode delves into the unique challenges and perspectives of the Gen Z generation, exploring their spiritual inclinations, community needs, and the impact of social media on their lives. Zylstra highlights that wh…

Intimacy is essential for growth, love, and community, requiring both trust and vulnerability. Dr. Ray Mitsch explores the profound connection between being known and the courage it takes to reveal our true selves. He emphasizes that vulnerability is the soul of love, highlighting how it fosters deep relationships and helps combat loneliness. Throu…

Conflict is the gateway to intimacy, and in this episode, Doctor Ray Mitch explores how engaging in healthy dialogue during disagreements can deepen our relationships rather than destroy them. He emphasizes that dialogue is more important than simply achieving a desired outcome, as it fosters understanding and connection between individuals. Throug…

Forgiveness is a complex and often contentious theme that resonates deeply within relationships, particularly when hurt and betrayal are involved. Dr. Mitsch delves into the multifaceted nature of forgiveness, challenging the simplistic notion of 'forgive and forget'. He argues that true forgiveness involves acknowledging the hurt and the complexit…

Have you ever been around someone who just can't take "no" for an answer? It seems that it becomes a challenge for them to talk you out of it. That's what boundaries are all about, and why they are so important in relationships. Listen in to find out more!Av Dr. Ray Mitsch

Are you ever accused of playing God? The reality is that the scourge of a lot of relationships is the blight of control and attempting to control other people and how they think as if we had the power of God. We all know that God is God and we are not, but that doesn't stop of trying to exercise that kind of power over our world and relationships. …

Your truth or my truth? After a brief review of the nature of redemptive community, Dr. Mitsch dives into talking about the most basic building block of the relationships in the outpost is how we handle truth. It's important to understand what "truth" we are speaking to one another. Listen to find out more!…

What kind of community are you looking for? Better yet, what kind of community do you create? Listen in as Dr. Mitsch talks about the fourth community that combines all the best qualities of principle-driven, support-driven, and insight-driven communities. It's the vision for the future of "outpost groups" developed by SGI.…

What kind of community do you create? What kind of community are you looking for? Dr. Mitsch returns to the airwaves starting a series about the nature of the relationships in outposts for the heart. Listen in as he distinguishes the different kind of communities you might have already experienced.Av Dr. Ray Mitsch

Dr. Mitsch reports on one more silent retreat. There were significant insights and metaphors discovered to convey the contours of each retreatants spiritual journey. Listen in to find out how much the discoveries of this small group of people relate to your own experiences. --------------------------------- The Critical Journey Find out more about …

As we come in for a landing about the spiritual journey, Dr. Mitsch examines what "settling in" for our lifelong journey looks like. --------------------------------- The Critical Journey Find out more about SGI community: Learn more about Seasons of our Grief hereAv Dr. Ray Mitsch

Find out what happens during the final day of the silent retreat.Av Dr. Ray Mitsch

Find out what happens between day 1 and day 2 on a silent retreat. Now that students have detoxified from all the noise and sound of their lives, what happens. Listen in to find out!Av Dr. Ray Mitsch

Ever wonder what happens at a silent retreat? Join Dr. Ray Mitsch with his first on-location report about day 1 of the Spring 2024 Silent Retreat.Av Dr. Ray Mitsch

At this stage of our spiritual journey, we move into "the wild." In other words, we move from the inward journey exploring the landscape of our hearts, to the outward journey focused on serving others not as an escape from our hearts, but as an outpouring of what we have been developing in our hearts. Check it out, and see how it relates to you! --…

Now that we are managing the challenges of "the wall," what's next? What does it look like to deepen our relationship with God and not depend on all that we can "do for Him?" ------------------------- The Critical Journey Find out more about SGI community: Learn more about Seasons of our Grief hereAv Dr. Ray Mitsch

What do you do when everything you thought was true about your spiritual walk with God gets shaken by life experiences, or a traumatic event in your life, or a crisis? We have some very important choices to make, but how do we make them when we have never visited this "place" in our spiritual journey? No one seems to be able to help us and our usua…

Join Dr. Mitsch as he navigates the waters of his own seasons of grief He will be reflecting and commenting on the journey through grief as he experiences it. The Critical Journey Find out more about SGI community: Learn more about Seasons of our Grief hereAv Dr. Ray Mitsch

As we continue your spiritual journey, we find ourselves at "stage" 3. The choice we have to make is our relationship with God or being productive FOR God. Listen in find out how to deepen your intimacy with God rather than your usefulness. The Critical Journey Find out more about SGI community: Learn more about Seasons of our Grief here…

As the spiritual journey gets underway, there are some key elements that are important to keep in mind. These include choosing your mentor carefully, and avoiding just collecting information about God rather than having a relationship WITH Him. Find out how to avoid the pitfalls, and take advantage the opportunities that are an important part of ph…

The first stage of the spiritual journey is the converted life. What does it look like, what are the challenges, and how do we make progress? Listen in to find out! Podcast links: The Critical JourneyAv Dr. Ray Mitsch

The spiritual journey? What is it, and why is it so important? Dr. Mitsch explores the key issues of your spiritual journey, and what things to anticipate as you continue your journey.Av Dr. Ray Mitsch

In the last installment of the Seasons of our Grief series, Dr. Mitsch explains what the season of fall looks like in terms of the task, traits, and tools necessary to navigate the last part of the active healing journey through grief. Find out more about what this looks like, and what next steps there are in the journey through grief! Find out mor…

Just when we think we are "out of the woods" of our grief, we are ambushed by unexpectedly strong emotions. What's up with that? It's called the summer of our grief. Listen in as Dr. Mitsch explains the important role that the summer of our grief plays in our journey of grief. Find out more about SGI community: Reserve a spot at the upcoming Book L…

Dr. Mitsch continues our series on the seasons of our grief. Spring presents another unique challenge as we walk the journey of grief. Listen to find out what the task, traits, and tools that are part of the spring of our grief. Find out more about SGI community: Reserve a spot at the upcoming Book Launch Party…

Continuing our three part series allowing listeners to hear the thoughts and conclusions from those who have experienced a silent retreat. Listen to two of our "veterans" who have attended 5 or more retreats and the impact it has had on them.Av Dr. Ray Mitsch

Dr. Mitsch continues his series about the seasonal approach to thinking and healing from our grief. In this episode, he talks about the first season of our grief - winter. With each season there are characteristics to understand, and tools to use to embrace the journey of our grief. Seasons of our Grief: https://a.co/d/5u1UXmC Find it on SGI: www.s…

Dr. Mitsch starts a four part series on grief and loss as a preview for his upcoming book, "The Seasons of our Grief." In this episode, he looks at the importance of the discussion about grief and loss, and the misconceptions we hold about this vital aspect of our lives. Seasons of our Grief: https://a.co/d/5u1UXmC Find it on SGI: www.sgi-net.org…

Listen to another installment of voices from the silence! In today's episode you'll hear from two young women, one a veteran, and the other who did a silent retreat for the first time. Their observations and reactions are powerful... Check out Dr. Mitsch's new book!Av Dr. Ray Mitsch

Ever wondered what a silent retreat is like? Listen to two interviews from participants from a recent silent retreat. You will get to hear from a leader, and from a long-time participant in our retreats. Check out Dr. Mitsch's new book!Av Dr. Ray Mitsch

Are New Year's resolutions all that effective? Tonight, millions of people are going to make resolutions that will all go the way of the dinosaurs by the end of January. Why bother? That is what this final episode of The Outpost podcast is about, and what we can consider doing instead that will actually change us for the long term. At the end of th…

We often play god more than we realize, and one of those ways is punishing ourselves when things aren't going well. The reality is that because we have such troubles with grace, we play god when we "correct" ourselves with shame. Different strategies for controlling our behavior are examined, and what impact it has on our spiritual journey and rela…

We love freedom. We love to talk about freedom. But what does it really mean for our relationships and trying to make the changes we desire in our lives. Are you living the old code in a new way, or a new code in an old way? Dr. Mitsch explores the three options we have for embracing the freedom that is ours, and how we are hesitant to live it.…

Comfortably enslaved? Are you kidding? Who wants to be enslaved? Yet, as Dr. Mitsch shows us we are comfortable in our enslavement to such a degree that we resist the change that would actually free us. Listen in to be provoked and challenged!Av Dr. Ray Mitsch

Dr. Mitsch continues his exploration of grace, and what makes it so difficult for us to accept it. An interesting parallel is drawn between two Biblical men and how they responded to the grace that was given them when they had both betrayed or denied Jesus. In many ways, we are just like those men. Dr. Mitsch talks about the the power of the voice …

Dr. Mitsch explores the distortions and conclusions that so many people make about grace. What is it? What difference does it make ? How do we experience it? These are a few questions he considers as he tackles a subject that many people think they know, but don't live.Av Dr. Ray Mitsch

Which do you prefer to change? Your motivation? Or, just emphasize your self-discipline? Often we forget that motivation matters. Because it matters so much, and it takes too much time we simply impose self-discipline and hope that it changes our motivation. Unfortunately, it never works. Listen in to find out more!…

The end of the retreat certainly didn't go as Dr. Mitsch had anticipated. Tune in to find out what happened, and how significant it was for the retreatants involved.Av Dr. Ray Mitsch

Dr. Mitsch shares some observations from day three of the silent retreat for 2023. There were many similarities between what students confronted in their second night of debrief and how that relates to our everyday spiritual journey.Av Dr. Ray Mitsch

Dr. Mitsch reports again from the fall silent retreat day two. Listen to see the unique place he is reporting from, and the observations he has to make that is every bit as applicable to our everyday lives as what has happened in the silent retreat. Check out the video podcast at www.bit.ly/outpost_media To donate to support continued participation…

Ever wondered what a silent retreat is like? Listen to this and the next two episodes to find out more and get an inside look at a silent retreat and the observations and insights offered by Dr. Mitsch To find out more about our next silent retreat and get more information about them visit: www.sgi-net.org.…

Dr. Mitsch brings his focus on toxic vs. non-toxic Christians to a close with the question, what kind of Christ-follower are you? He closes with the last two characteristics of these Christ-followers who are driven by connection rather than correction. Listen in to figure out what kind of Christ-follower you are!…

Continuing from our last podcast, Dr. Mitsch continues to explore the characteristics of connecting Christ-followers rather than correcting ones. He will look at depth at how these people handle boundaries, and how they understand and handle forgiveness. For more information about "Digital Setting New Boundaries" For more information about silent r…

Continuing from the last episode about toxic Christians, Dr. Mitsch shares a "matrix" that we can use to detect and discern the connection-motivated Christ-followers who provide a context in their relationships with us for our growth and acceptance.Av Dr. Ray Mitsch

In this inaugural episode of The Outpost Podcast with Dr. Ray Mitsch, Dr. Mitsch gives a broad vision of the change from the Psych Monologues to The Outpost Podcast as well as Stained Glass International. The main focus of this podcast is examining the issue of toxic Christians, and why they have all the power that they do. What can we do to respon…