Real Talk with Rachael is a podcast designed to bring topics out of the darkness and into the light. In each episode, we will discuss real topics about real life with real people. Let's get real so we can live free. #RealOverPerfect #bereallivefree
This week on Real Talk with Rachael it's the final episode of my church series where we've been engaging in healthy conversations about church and leadership all while keeping our hearts pure in the process. While I'm a licensed professional counselor, I want to be clear that I am not professionally counseling you on this podcast today. My goal is to offer some pastoral counseling by providing you with a system to follow when you're walking through something hard in life through the acronym HEART.
Key Points from Our Conversation:The Care and Counsel Bible The Body Keeps the Score You can find a list of Christian counselors at The American Association of Christian Counselors or through Focus on the Family’s Christian Counselor Network.
This week on Real Talk with Rachael, I'm chatting with my friends, Jeff and Terra Mattson. Jeff and Terra are authors of Shrinking the Integrity Gap: Between What Leaders Preach and Live, hosts of the Living Wholehearted Podcast, executive coaches, social entrepreneurs, and proud parents to two girls. Together, they co-founded the counseling and organizational development firm Living Wholehearted and a grassroots movement, Courageous Girls, that helps moms walk with their daughters in every stage of their growing years.
Jeff is also an organizational development specialist, while Terra is a licensed marriage & family therapist and keynote speaker. Whether through their podcast or their professional work, the Mattsons are committed to equipping individuals, families, and organizations to thrive.
Key Points from Our Conversation:Wholehearted Leadership Cohorts Let Us Prey: The Plague of Narcissist Pastors and What We Can Do About It You can find a list of Christian counselors at The American Association of Christian Counselors or through Focus on the Family’s Christian Counselor Network.
Connect with Jeff & Terra: website | Instagram | Facebook | podcast Connect with Rachael: website | Instagram | Facebook
This week on Real Talk with Rachael, I’m speaking with Dr. Josh Zeichik. Josh is the Director of Church Engagement for Focus on The Family. With experience in youth ministry and church planting, he oversees their pastoral ministry, The Focused Pastor. He holds a DMin in Biblical Counseling from Midwestern Baptist Theology Seminary.
Key Points from Our Conversation:Connect with Josh: website | Instagram | Facebook Connect with Rachael: website | Instagram | Facebook
This week on Real Talk with Rachael, I'm speaking with Max Lucado. Max is known for combining poetic storytelling and homespun humor with the heart of a pastor. His trade books all begin as sermon series at Oak Hills Church, and his sermons all start with Max asking himself this question: “What can I say on Sunday that will still matter on Monday?” He’s been dubbed “America’s Pastor” by Christianity Today, “The Best Preacher in America” by Reader’s Digest, and the “Ted Lasso of Pastors” by the Dallas Morning News. Max Lucado has penned more than 40 works of adult nonfiction, standing alongside dozens and dozens of bestselling children's books, gift books, Bible studies, commentaries, and collections. His books have been published in 56 languages worldwide and regularly appear on bestseller lists, including The New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today.
Key Points from Our Conversation:You can find a list of Christian counselors at The American Association of Christian Counselors or through Focus on the Family’s Christian Counselor Network. Join the Joy Mail community for monthly updates and exclusive resources by visiting RachelGilbert.com and clicking the freebies tab. Be sure to leave a review or share the episode on social media by tagging @RachaelJGilbert for your chance to win a copy of What Happens Next
Connect with Max: website | Instagram | Facebook Connect with Rachael: website | Instagram | Facebook
This week on Real Talk with Rachael I'm having a conversation with Dr. Robert Paul. Robert Paul is Vice President of the Focus on the Family Marriage Institute. He is both a marriage therapist and an accomplished speaker who presents regularly at professional conferences and enrichment events both nationally and internationally. He has co-authored six books, including “The DNA of Relationships,” with Drs. Gary and Greg Smalley, and “9 Lies That Will Destroy Your Marriage: And the truths that will save it and set it free,” with Dr. Greg Smalley. He is a former professor at Evangel University where he taught in both the biblical studies and psychology departments, specializing in Marriage and Family Counseling, Human Sexuality, and the integration of faith into all areas of life. Bob and his wife, Jenni, live in Springfield, Mo., have been married for over 43 years. They have four children and seven grandchildren.
Key Points from Our Conversation:You can find a list of Christian counselors at The American Association of Christian Counselors or through Focus on the Family’s Christian Counselor Network. Join the Joy Mail community for monthly updates and exclusive resources by visiting RachelGilbert.com and clicking the freebies tab
Connect with Dr. Paul: website Connect with Rachael: website | Instagram | Facebook
If you’ve been around the show long, you might remember that God asked me to lay down the Talk Therapy episodes at the beginning of 2024. However, as I was out for a run the day after my 40th birthday, He dropped a word about finishing with excellence so strongly on my heart that I knew I had to share it with you in this episode.
How do we achieve excellence? To put it into simple words, do the right thing. Excellence is the result of caring about what we do, and of putting our very best effort into what we care about.
Key Verses:
Colossian 3:22-25 (MSG), "Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work."
2 Timothy 4:7, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."
Process:
God, what are you asking me to finish with excellence?
Resource:
If you are not yet in our JOYmail community, I want to invite you to join today. Once a month I send an email with a personal note from me, favorite finds, podcast updates, and a free therapy resource. Go to rachaelgilbert.com and click the freebies tab to join the community.
This week on Real Talk with Rachael I'm chatting with Stefanie and Caleb Rouse. Stefanie and Caleb are dynamic relationship mentors and digital creators passionately guiding singles and couples toward fulfilling and resilient relationships anchored in faith. With their master’s degrees in marriage and family therapy with an emphasis in theology (Stefanie) and in education (Caleb), they offer tailored courses, mentorship, and guidance. These are all rooted in prayer, backed by training in psychology and biblical counseling, encouragement from Christ, and practical strategies for love that lasts. Speaking to an engaged audience across multiple social media platforms, Stefanie and Caleb provide daily insights into the transformative power of faith across all relationship stages. Their vision is a world where we learn to love each other out of God’s abundance of love, leading to impactful and joyous relationships.
Key Points from Our Conversation:Take the Reactive Cycle Assessment and share it
Connect with Stefanie: website | Instagram Connect with Caleb: website | Instagram Connect with Rachael: website | Instagram | Facebook
This week on Real Talk with Rachael I'm speaking with the authors of Pastors' Wives Tell All: Navigating Real Church Life with Honesty and Humor, Stephanie Gilbert, Jessica Taylor, and Jenna Allen. They are also the cohosts of the Pastors’ Wives Tell All podcast - a podcast by pastors’ wives for church leaders and anyone desiring to peek inside their proverbial glass houses. As best friends from three different churches and denominations, they are breaking down walls within the Church and crushing pastor wifey stereotypes with a little ministry therapy and a whole lot of Jesus—plus the occasional Instagram dance party!
Key Points from Our Conversation:Connect with Pastors' Wives Tell All: website | Instagram | Facebook Connect with Rachael: website | Instagram | Facebook
This week on Real Talk with Rachael in talking with Jess Connolly. Jess is the author or co-author of several books, including Wild and Free, You Are the Girl for the Job, and Breaking Free from Body Shame. Along with her husband, Nick, she planted Bright City Church in Charleston, South Carolina, where they live with their four children. Jess is a woman who wants to leave her generation more in awe of God than she found it. She is passionate about family, God's Word, and seeing women take their place in the kingdom.
Key Points from Our Conversation:What area of rest do you need to lean into with the Lord and reevaluate this season? What beliefs do you have about rest and do those beliefs line up with God’s Word?
Connect with Jess: website | Instagram | Facebook Connect with Rachael: website | Instagram | Facebook
This week on Real Talk with Rachael, I'm chatting with Calvin Burns. Calvin is a Licensed Professional Counselor in Austin, Texas, who is deeply committed to guiding individuals through their challenges with eating disorders, substance abuse, and trauma. His approach is built on a foundation of empathy, understanding, and a personal dedication to each client's journey.
Key Points from Our Conversation:Disordered eating is a pattern of eating habits or an approach to food that is inconsistent or driven by insecurity, fear, or uncertainty. Disordered eating is the first stage of an eating disorder when those insecurities become identity.
What suffering have you endured? Have you allowed Jesus as your high priest to embed hope in your heart in the darkest situation?
Connect with Calvin: website Connect with Rachael: website | Instagram | Facebook
This week on Real Talk with Rachael I'm speaking with a woman who was key in releasing Image Restored, Susan McPherson. Susan is an author acquisitions editor for David C. Cook Publishing and their Esther Press imprint for women. She is dedicated to encouraging and equipping women to courageously stand strong in the truth of God’s Word through her work leading the women’s community for Esther Press. She loves Jesus, coffee, college football, and her life as a wife and mother in the Nashville, Tennessee, area.
Whether you're interested in becoming an author or not, this conversation with Susan is such an encouragement for women to pursue what God has called them to. In this episode, we discuss how authors are chosen for publishing, why being servant-minded is crucial when partnering with others, and not missing out on God's plans because we feel inadequate.
Don't miss the est.HER conference happening April 11 - 13, 2024 in Spring Hill, TN!
Let’s Get Real Practical:Your "why" has to be greater than your "what-ifs."
What’s your why? What’s your what-if? Which voice is louder, your why or your what-ifs?
Connect with Susan: website | Instagram | Facebook Connect with Rachael: website | Instagram | Facebook
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