190 -Be where you are, Be who you are, Be at peace!

Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide now! Website: https://karlforehand.com/ Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64 Find me on Twitter @karl4hand See our new Facebook Page: The Desert Sanctuary Book, Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s Heart Book: The Tea Shop

189 – Rebecca Trotter – The Upside Down World

Rebecca Trotter is a mom, writer, thinker, talker, teacher, Christian and odd duck. She writes about God’s upside down kingdom, Christian spirituality and enjoying life when it’s hard. We talked about trauma, church and thriving outside organized religion. She also talked about her mission to advocate and use her unique voice to speak loud for…

188 – Existence, Consciousness, & Bliss

Aaron Tomlinson joins us to explore these three words. Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide now!Website: https://karlforehand.com/ https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary·  Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com·  Find me on Twitter·  See our new Facebook Page: The Desert Sanctuary·  Book, Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s HeartBook: The Tea Shop

187 – How Pastors Foster Abuse

Joined with Derrick Day to talk about how church and pastors promote abuse Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide now!Website: https://karlforehand.com/https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary·  Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com·  Find me on Twitter·  See our new Facebook Page: The Desert Sanctuary·  Book, Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s HeartBook: The Tea Shop

186 – My Books – Being and The Hotel

We decided to talk about my latest books Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide now!Website: https://karlforehand.com/ https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary·  Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com·  Find me on Twitter·  See our new Facebook Page: The Desert Sanctuary·  Book, Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s HeartBook: The Tea Shop

185 – What Christian Teaching is Valid?

Guest host Joe Machuta, Karl and Laura, Kyle Butler and Aaron discuss. Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide now!Website: https://karlforehand.com/ https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary·  Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com·  Find me on Twitter·  See our new Facebook Page: The Desert Sanctuary·  Book, Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s HeartBook: The Tea Shop

The Hotel – Releases Today

It’s finally here! Every time I release a book it seems like I’m having a baby. The Hotel started as a curiosity about an old building. Then, I learned some facts and let my imagination run wild and 45 days later I had a novel. My very first novel! I was so surprised that not…

184 – Out Into The Desert – The Things That Hurt

What is it about organized religion that is dangerous? Jason Elam and Karl and Laura discuss their experience with hurt in their ministry experience.  Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide now!Website: https://karlforehand.com/ https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary·  Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com·  Find me on Twitter·  See our new Facebook Page: The Desert Sanctuary·  Book, Apparent Faith: What…

The Hotel

Have you ever looked at one of the buildings downtown and then just let your imagination think about what it was like 100 years ago? That’s what Karl Forehand did when he was standing in the Opp Hotel, in Rock Port, MO some time ago. He knew a few facts and some of the rumors…

183 – Out into the Desert – We Can Do Better

Aaron Tomlinson joins us to talk about issues with the church and how we handle trauma.  Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide now!Website: https://karlforehand.com/ https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary·  Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com·  Find me on Twitter·  See our new Facebook Page: The Desert Sanctuary·  Book, Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About the Father’s HeartBook: The…

177 – All of Us – Becoming What We Are

The five of us: Laura Forehand, Jason Elam, Aaron Tomlinson, Kyle Butler and Karl Forehand talk about authenticity. All four of us were pastors and told to follow our calling, but that really meant becoming what people wanted us to do, since God’s will was interpreted through people. In this episode we talk about what…

176 – Karl and Laura – Straight Talk for Christians

That’s right, we’re taking a break from social media for the month of December. Email us or send s a text if you really need to tell us something. We may not check it very often. karl4hand@gmail.com lauraforehand64@karl4hand Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide now!Website: https://karlforehand.com/·  https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary·  Message us at any time if…

175 – Us and Kyle – Healing our Trauma

So grateful for Kyle being willing to talk to us once a month. His wisdom and insight is powerful at times. Once again, we go inside and talk about real healing Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide now!Website: https://karlforehand.com/·  https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary·  Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com·  Find…

174 – Jason Elam Uncut

I love every conversation I have with Jason Elam. I attempted to interview him, but he is good at turning questions around. Even though we are the best of friends, we don’t see everything exactly the same, but we usually end up talking about organized religion. Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide…

173 – Us and Aaron – Shadow and Trauma

No matter what we call our journey, it is necessary to face our woundedness. We talk with Aaron again about how that happens. This is all things shadow and inner child. The time went quickly and we probably just scratched the surface, but enjoy! Remember, we are taking off the month of December. Look for…

172 – Dallas Verity – Take Off Eh

We’ve been waiting a while to talk to Dallas Verity. He and Blair have had some amazing interviews on their podcast, Shipwreck Over Safety. But we got to know them more through our conversations on various broadcasts over the years including The Desert Sanctuary. When I knew we were going to talk, I kept seeing…

171 – Jared Byas – Love Matters More

Jared Byas is co-host of the popular podcast The Bible for Normal People and co-author of the book Genesis for Normal People. As a former teaching pastor and professor of Philosophy & Biblical Studies, he speaks regularly on the Bible, truth, creativity, wisdom, and the Christian faith. He and his wife, Sarah, live outside Philadelphia,…

169 – Organized Religion

So, Karl why don’t you just leave religion alone and pursue what you want to pursue? Because religion is part of my roots and religion affects people. I know that people involved in organized religion don’t have evil intentions, but the system is systemically inadequate to deal with the trauma that it often creates. Please…

Leaning Forward 2021 – Video Recordings

Video recording of all 13 speakers – reserve now Description of the Conference Last year, the Desert Sanctuary initiated the Nomad 2020 online conference during the pandemic. Ever since that day, I have been dreaming of this event. I wanted to lean forward and look toward the future with all the other spiritual nomads and…

166 – Us and Aaron – Religious Trauma

Lots of people want to dismiss religious trauma and that is one reason it persists. Aaron is a counselor and also a former pastor. We talk about where we are currently, our past trauma and understanding of it including how children and young people are affected by it.  Order Being or the The Being Journey…

165 – Tracy King – The Gritty Mystic

As an intuitive channel and transformational teacher, Tracy’s podcast, Gritty Mystic, holds space for illuminating conversations on personal development inspiring divine breakthroughs. She and her guests offer tips, tools and techniques for becoming the most powerful and authentic You. Of course, there’s lots more to Tracy, but you’ll have to stop in and listen to…

Leaning Forward

Last year, the Desert Sanctuary initiated the Nomad 2020 online conference during the pandemic. Ever since that day, I have been dreaming of this event. I wanted to lean forward and look toward the future with all the other spiritual nomads and seekers. I wanted to bring together people with differing vantage points to see if we could see…

163 – Us and Kyle – Fear

How is fear propagated in the church? How can we get past fear? Why are boundaries important? · Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide now! Website: https://karlforehand.com/·  https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary·  Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com·  Find me on Twitter·  See our new Facebook Page: The Desert Sanctuary·  Book, Apparent Faith: What…

162 – Us and Jason – Rejection

We love getting when Jason Elam is co-host with us in the desert. This month we talked about rejection, authenticity, acceptance, mercy and retribution, and the supposed “sin” of empathy. ·  Website: https://karlforehand.com/·  https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary·  Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com·  Find me on Twitter·  See our new Facebook Page: The Desert Sanctuary· …

161 – Being with Glenn Klein

Glenn and I have a friendship that is a great example of how two people don’t have to agree on everything to get along. We have several things in common, one major focus we share – helping others find healing. Glenn is a coach and a lover of people. His podcast was coming to a…

160 – Us and Aaron – Who am I?

This is our first episode with our new co-host, Aaron Tomlinson. Aaron will be joining us the second weekend of each month to talk about all things transformation or whatever comes up. We are thankful to have him. Also look for him in the upcoming Leaning Forward Conference. Order Being or the The Being Journey…

159 – Brandon Andress – What Can’t Be Hidden

Another Quoir release on Tuesday, September 7th. Brandon talks about the novel What Can’t Be Hidden I read this novel cover-to-cover and it’s awesome. Don’t miss it! ·  Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide now!·  Website: https://karlforehand.com/·  https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary·  Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com·  Find me on Twitter· …

158 – Karl and Laura – How are we Doing?

Time to take an assessment. How are we doing since deconstruction? We also talk about our new co-hosts and our hopes for the future. Look for information about the Leaning Forward Conference. Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide now!·  Website: https://karlforehand.com/·  https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary·  Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at…

The Desert Sanctuary Presents – Leaning Forward

  Photo by Rafael Polendo October 16th – Online – Free – Reserve a Spot Aaron Tomlinson * Dr. Paul Fitzgerald * Dr. Amanda McKinney Alana Levandoski * Karl Forehand “Addressing Religious Trauma”“Transforming Negative Reactions into Thoughtful Responses”“The Planet, the Animals and our Health”“The Way of the Mystic”“A Journey Toward Presence & Authenticity” ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­________________________________________________________________ “The…

156 – Being with Kat Rose

Kat Rose describes herself as a Celtic Pagan, and more specifically a Druid. She is also a minister, philosopher, hospice chaplain, and board member Cobb Institute. I was priveldged to hear her unique perspective on ideas from my book: Being: A Journey Toward Presence and Authenticity. As I have said before, I feel so blessed…

154 – Being with Kyle Butler

Kyle Butler is one of our favorite people. We ask him to talk about his ideas on “Everything Matters.” Kyle is giving language to what many of us are trying to articulate. Every time I listen to him speak, I’m better off because of it Order Being or the The Being Journey companion guide now!Website: https://karlforehand.com/https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary…

149 – Being with Teachers in Taiwan

I feel like we were just getting started in this conversation. Abby, Ari, and Jordan live in Taiwan and teach English there. They also collaborate on the Free China Podcast. On their media site, they discuss various political and social issues. These three make me optimistic about the future! Listen in as they discuss how…

146 – Being with Brandi and Jason on the Beach

The night before we left Florida, we gathered on the beach and talked about moving forward. We discussed having conversation with other out there and living from a place of authenticity. It seems a little more uncertain, but a also feeling better about our direction. Listen for the us talking about “Leaning Forward” and “Become…

145 – Joshua Lawson – Face of Addiction

(from the summary on Amazon) Joshua Lawson has worked as an organizer, pastor, and ally to people who use drugs in central Appalachia for the past three years. The Face of Addiction tells the stories of twelve people he met when he first began “getting close” to the things that matter in his community. There’s the woman…

143 – Being with Aaron Tomlinson

This is a very important conversation about being fully human. Aaron is a therapist and ex-pastor. You would probably expect us to talk about deconstruction, but we actually talked about moving forward. Aaron recognizes the need for transformation and healing and he loved my book, Being: A Journey Toward Presence and Authenticity, because it impacted…

141 – Being with Paul Fitzgerald

Dr. Paul Fitzgerald updates us on his life. After battling through a health concern and the pandemic, he continues to be the main speaker for Heart Connexion’s Breaktrhough Seminars. He is also spiritually companioning people through focusing sessions and teaching about this process. We also took some time to talk about my new book, Being:…

138 – Karl and Laura – I Wonder….”

These conversations keep getting better and better. Kids are naturally curious. Laura’s class asked the question, “I wonder…” about parts of a science project. Why do we lose that natural wonder? Especially in our faith, to continue to wonder keeps us on the journey. Join us for this brief conversation. Order Being or the The…

The Being Journey Companion Guide

Did you know Being: A Journey Toward Presence and Authenticity has a companion guide? It was released on May 11th, but I wanted to wait a while to make a big deal about it. I really hope people will read the book first, then go experience the 30-day journey with the companion guide. So why…

Learning to Be

(This is the introduction to my book:  Being: A Journey Toward Presence and Authenticity.  It releases next Monday, May 11th.  I hope would give it a chance and pre-order or save it on your wish list to order on opening day.)  I learned the value of hard work from my family-of-origin early in life.  Doing…

133 – Too Many Ex-Pastor’s Wives

Last week we interviewed a few pastors in deconstruction. This week we started a conversation with some pastor’s wives who are outside of organized religion. We feel like we were just getting started with the conversation, but it is very real and should help people understand the problems in white, evangelical Christianity are very common…

Release Date – Being

Good News:  We have a cover and we have a release date for the new book.This is going to be a deeply transformational book for people and what Laura and I will be focused on. Please mark your calendar for MAY 11th, and help us promote the book on opening day.  Here is the cover,…

124 – Karl and Laura – Deconstruction Trauma

After I posted an article today on Patheos a comment got us thinking about something we have talked about occasionally. Trauma associated with deconstruction, or what we are deconstructing from can be quite real. Hope you enjoy the conversation. Website: https://karlforehand.com/ Book: The Tea Shop https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary Message us at any time if you have questions:…

122 – Too Many Spiritual Directors

What is a Spiritual Director? I got together with a few of my friends that are spiritual directors to explore some topics like spiritual direction, shadow, presence and integration. Rachel Keck – rachel@mosaic-collaborative.com Kathy Leach – leachkathy58@gmail.com Christopher Eaker – ttps://www.steppingstoneslife.com/ chris.eaker@gmail.com   Website: https://karlforehand.com/ Book: The Tea Shop https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary Message us at any time…

121 – Karl and Laura – The Bible

Listen to us have an unscripted conversation about the B-I-B-L-E. It’s always been very important to us, but our views have changed over the years. We believe for the better.   Website: https://karlforehand.com/ Book: The Tea Shop https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com Find me on…

120 – Karl and Laura – Out into the Desert

Our discussion about the release of the e-book, now offered free on the website. Find the e-book https://karlforehand.com/books-by-karl-forehand This conversation, like the e-book, is somewhat vulnerable. Support us on Patreon  *   The Desert Sanctuary Website Karl Forehand is a former pastor, podcaster, and award-winning author. His books include Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood Taught Me About…

119 – Karl and Laura – What is Focusing?

Focusing helps us feel what we are feeling and shift that part of us that hold the trauma. That may not be the best definition, but this conversation will help explain focusing from our experience and our experience focusing with others. Image by: Photo by Godisable Jacob from Pexels Dr. Paul’s HCS Focusing Page See below for all…

118 – Karl and Laura – Willful Ignorance

This morning I wrote about something I have been thinking about for a while. Too much of our society is certain about their ambiguity and unwilling to open up to new things they don’t already know. It’s not about intelligence, it’s about willful ignorance. To see the original article, go to Patheos Image by Photo…

117 – Karl and Laura – Community

Today, we sat down to talk about Community. By far, when people talk about why we should participate in organized religion, they tell us we need community. But Do we really find community at church?What is real community?Can you find commuity online?What is the Desert Sanctuary Community online? Image by Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels Website: https://karlforehand.com/…

116- Karl and Laura – The Main Thing

This a a pretty real, unrehearsed conversation in our study / office that talked about: Current Events: The Insurrection at the Capitol What is the Main Thing we learned in church and is that valid. What are our main things for the New Year. What is focusiing and how have we been using that? blog_subscription_form]…

115 – Alana Levandoski – Ring Out, Wild Bells!

See More Information from Alana below:Greetings, and happy New Year!My name is Alana Levandoski, and I composed the music to this Tennyson poem, Ring Out, Wild Bells, published in 1850. It is from a requiem entitled In Memoriam, written for his sister’s fiancé, who died very suddenly that year.  I am a song and chant writer who has…

113 – Karl Forehand – The Importance of Compassion

As time marches on, I find very few things that are more important than compassion. Be where you are, be who you are, be at peace, Karl Forehand Website: https://karlforehand.com/ Book: The Tea Shop https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com Find me on Twitter See our…

110 – Anita Grace Brown – The Mystics

Anita is She is completing her first book “Kamikaze Yogi: and has been sharing her signature-style of Jesus yoga at conferences and festivals for over 8 years now. She lives in South Jersey with her husband of 27 years and her adult children attend Syracuse U. Anita runs retreats for women to experience the freedom…

104 – Julie McVey – The Mystics

The converstation with the Mystics continues with Julie McVey. Check out her website The Tea Shop releases September 22nd. See the Facebook group https://ratethispodcast.com/thedesertsanctuary Message us at any time if you have questions: karl4hand@gmail.com or Laura at lauraforehand64@gmail.com Find me on Twitter See our new Facebook Page: The Desert Sanctuary Book, Apparent Faith: What Fatherhood…

102 – Matthew Distefano – Mystics 3

Matthew is a fellow author at Quoir and a good friend. His approach to Mystical Spriituality is practical and understandable. This was a pretty easy conversation. Matt is the author of about 7 books and is a host on about 4 podcasts including the Heretic Happy Hour. Some of Matt’s Stuff The Heretic Happy Hour…

Focussing

About two years ago, I thought my whole world was ending.  I had done some internal work that was changing my life, but I also discovered something else.  I discovered my shadow.  Shadow material are things we ignore, deny, or repress that create stuck places from the trauma in our lives.  If you have ever…