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Kevin explains the section titled, I Can Still Hear Him Say, in […]

Here’s the backstory on the section in my book titled Feelings.

Here’s the back story behind the poem that became the title of […]

Cooperating with the shift from written word to spoken word.

The recent news of yet another noted leader in the evangelical world is making the news for revelations of sexual misconduct. Instead of explaining the details, here is an article outlining the allegations against apologist and teacher, Ravi Zacharias.

The Contender. A poem by Kevin Shinn, ©55 Degrees, 2020 When a partner leaves, either through divorce or death, their physical presence might be missing, but any unresolved conflict doesn’t go away with them. In my case, I’m now forced into a one-way conversation. When I was preparing to get married in 1990, the couple that did our pre-marriage counseling gave me this advice. They said in their many years of being together, the two things that were most important was praying together and resolving conflict together. I have new insight into this wisdom today. I wrote this poem last June shortly after a session with my therapist who helped me identify the unsolved mystery. Her physical body was absent, but she left behind a lot emotional inventory for me to sift through without her. Much of my energy in therapy has been an attempt to resolve that conflict on my own, knowing that I have no hope of ever being able to properly resolve it together. I likened my marriage as a boxing match with me as The Contender, going up against the 5 ft four, 110 pound Heavyweight Champion of the World. And if you knew her, you know I’m not exaggerating. She was an incredibly tough person. In the world of the Enneagram, it was Type 8 versus Type 4. Two very different kinds of strong going head to head. My greatest motivation collided with her deepest fear. And therein was the needed insight for much of the conflict that we experienced. This was one of my earliest and certainly my favorite poem that I’ve written. I think it’s because it communicates something I felt for a long time but was not sure how to express. This is the beauty and necessity of poetry

When I was a young boy, my father made it clear to me that there were certain words he did not want me using. As a father with children of my own now, I see that my Father in Heaven feels the same about the language I use to describe my relationship with him. In this episode, I describe how leaving The Church As We Know It has led me to a new language to describe my current faith journey, and the new freedom it has produced in me.

This is the fourth and final episode in sharing my experience of dreams and visions and the process I follow once I receive them. Dreams are for the dreamer first. The dream will shape the dreamer as it is carried and held for its proper time. Thanks for listening.

The prophet Daniel was a dreamer with whom I identify in my own experience of dreams and visions. In no way am I claiming to receive apocalyptic information equivalent to his, but the process of receiving a dream or vision is very similar to what he went through. The dream is first for the dreamer, and the dreamer must give it time to shape her life and character. In this episode I tell a story of how I saw a vision of a watchman and how I allowed it to influence my faith for over 20 years. Thanks for listening.

I’m continuing to explore this odd topic of Dreams and Visions that has been a part of my story most of my life. There isn’t a lot of information out there that I trust or feel comfortable with on this subject so I’ve been left to dwell on this privately. But I want to share some of my insight here today and trust that it might bring some clarity to your own story.

I want to explore this odd topic that has been a part of my story most of my life. It's the category of Dreams and Visions.  There isn’t a lot of information out there that I trust or feel comfortable with on this subject so I’ve been left to dwell on this privately. But I want to share some of my insight here today and trust that it might bring some clarity to your own story. The book I referred to is The Body Keeps The Score by Dr. Besel van der Kolk

It’s been a year since my wife passed away. Here are some ways I have dealt with that loss that have been helpful in moving me toward recovery and improved emotional health.

It's been a year since my wife passed away. Here are some ways I have dealt with that loss that have been helpful in moving me toward recovery and improved emotional health.

My wife of nearly 30 years passed away on November 2, 2019 after a long battle with ovarian cancer. These are the words I read to the hundreds of people that attended her memorial service. I share them with the same desired outcome as I do with anything I write. I hope that you will hear a bit of your own voice through mine. You may not have lost a spouse like me, but that doesn't matter. You have your own stories of loss. And all loss needs to be grieved. The songs I mention in the eulogy are linked to Spotify below: Hold My Girl by George Ezra Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers Beloved by Mumford & Sons

It's my belief that God longs to communicate to us as His beloved children, yet I was taught to buy into an idea that He is mysterious, hard to hear and easy to miss. I now think the opposite. God is as near to you as your own breathe and His desire to speak has been evidenced by a knocking that you may have heard but not recognized. And I would be willing to be that it has been there for quite some time. I hope my stories can help you hear that knocking. Thanks for listening. Thanks for listening.

I’m wondering if you’re like me, hoping that faith is more than just approved activity, more than a sanctioned set of beliefs and strong sense of duty. If you’re like me, we are asking if faith can take us to a better way of living, to a genuine sense of peace, a brilliant expression of love and a restored sense of good when it comes to the Good News. In this episode, I share my experience of how my identity shapes what I think about God and how that identity is continually in a process of maturity and growing up. I also propose that what I currently feel about God is not to be dismissed. I see it as His invitation to understand who He is at a deeper level. Thanks for listening.

I’ve titled this series, The Faith I Always Wanted. Living according to faith has been something I've been doing since I was 17 years old. And along the way I found myself questioning my faith with one primary query: “Is there more or is this as good as it gets?” Because there was something always nagging me when I would face a hurdle in life or when I would observe a lack of kindness or goodness among those who claimed my same faith. Surely there had to be more.

Living according to faith has been important to me since I was 17. But the faith that was handed to me at that age wasn't sufficient for the trials and hardships that would come as my days unfolded. Faith had to upgrade if I was to continue in it through the rest of my life. This is a series of episodes that describe that process for me I plan to outline what a life of faith has looked like for me beginning at age 17 and what it looks like now at age 57. I will talk about how I have tossed overboard much of what was handed to me over the years in the name of faith that I no longer deem necessary. I will share about how I hear from God and have entered into an ongoing conversation with Him. I’ve come to reject the idea that God is elusive, difficult to hear and hard to understand. I will describe the role that dreams and visions play for me. Hopefully I can take away some of the weirdness and mystery. I will describe my thoughts for social change and spiritual awakening and how a life of faith is the most beautiful antidote to the rage and anger rampant in the spirit of the age today. Make room. Thanks for listening.

This is the 5th in the series of stories behind the stories in my book bread&cup: Beyond Simple Food and Drink. In these episodes, I wanted to give a little more context behind writing the book, but also to bring it to the point of what’s next? What’s beyond simple food and drink for me? Owning a restaurant was about more than being a chef and cooking great food. Cooking was secondary to the joy of providing hospitality It was my desire to build a place where people could find rest, if only for a short period of time, under my watch and care. I believe the time is ripe for a new pandemic, one that sees the spread of kindness with a world-wide effect. Being hospitable is a great vehicle for that to grow. Kindness is not to be confused with weakness. It is stronger than the rampant anger that is so prevalent. Make today count.

Pursuing a dream is rewarding and personally fulfilling, but what happens when that beautiful dream turns into an ugly nightmare? In this episode, I share my experience of what it was like to go through the crushing sense of failure in closing my business. Its less about what I would have done differently and more about how I got through the worst part to emerge on the other side with renewed hope for my future. This is episode 4 in my series detailing some of the back story behind my book, bread&cup: Beyond Simple Food and Drink. You can order a copy on my website shop or at Francie & Finch Bookshop in Lincoln, NE Make Today Count.