Attunement and Alignment

What does it look like to stay present with people when there’s tension, disagreement, or hurt in a relationship? Jessie Cruickshank and Kelly Kannwischer explore the practice of holding space, drawing on the way of Jesus to show how we can remain connected without abandoning our convictions or compromising healthy boundaries. They talk about navigating conflict, grounding our identity in Christ rather than other people’s opinions, and allowing room for the Holy Spirit to bring growth and redemption in relationships that aren’t always easy.—FREE RESOURCE:Not sure where you are in your faith development — or how to walk alongside someone who’s in a different place than you? Download the Identity Formation Theory chart free and see all six phases of how humans grow spiritually and psychologically.→ whoology.co/identity—TAKE THE COURSE:Ordinary Discipleship — 8 sessions that will change how your community makes disciples. Built for the 75% that most discipleship materials miss.→ Small Group Course ORDER THE BOOKS:Becoming Good News: Reimagining Discipleship Through Identity, Story, and Science→ Becoming Good NewsOrdinary Discipleship: How God Wires Us for the Adventure of Transformation→ Ordinary DiscipleshipFOLLOW WHOOLOGY:Instagram: instagram.com/ordinarydiscipleshipFacebook: facebook.com/ordinarydiscipleshipFOLLOW JESSIE:Instagram: instagram.com/yourbrainbyjessFacebook: facebook.com/jessica.s.cruickshankABOUT JESSIE:Jessie Cruickshank holds a Master’s degree in experiential education from Harvard and has spent 30 years studying how the brain actually learns, grows, and changes. She’s the author of Ordinary Discipleship and the architect of Identity Formation Theory, a framework for understanding where people are in their spiritual and psychological development. She believes discipleship was never meant to be a solo journey, and neuroscience backs her up.

What’s the difference between being aligned with someone and being truly connected to them? In this conversation, Jessie Cruickshank, Julia Schmaltz, and Jacob Hoyer explore how attunement to God and one another creates the foundation for trust, honest conversations, and meaningful community. They discuss how naming our fears, practicing confession and forgiveness, and finding safety in our identity in Christ can help repair relationships and move us toward the kind of unity that leads to real belonging and joy.—FREE RESOURCE:Not sure where you are in your faith development — or how to walk alongside someone who’s in a different place than you? Download the Identity Formation Theory chart free and see all six phases of how humans grow spiritually and psychologically.→ whoology.co/identity—TAKE THE COURSE:Ordinary Discipleship — 8 sessions that will change how your community makes disciples. Built for the 75% that most discipleship materials miss.→ Small Group Course ORDER THE BOOKS:Becoming Good News: Reimagining Discipleship Through Identity, Story, and Science→ Becoming Good NewsOrdinary Discipleship: How God Wires Us for the Adventure of Transformation→ Ordinary DiscipleshipFOLLOW WHOOLOGY:Instagram: instagram.com/ordinarydiscipleshipFacebook: facebook.com/ordinarydiscipleshipFOLLOW JESSIE:Instagram: instagram.com/yourbrainbyjessFacebook: facebook.com/jessica.s.cruickshankABOUT JESSIE:Jessie Cruickshank holds a Master’s degree in experiential education from Harvard and has spent 30 years studying how the brain actually learns, grows, and changes. She’s the author of Ordinary Discipleship and the architect of Identity Formation Theory, a framework for understanding where people are in their spiritual and psychological development. She believes discipleship was never meant to be a solo journey, and neuroscience backs her up.

What does it mean to live from our identity rather than letting our roles define us? In this conversation, Jacob, Julia, and Jessie explore authority, responsibility, and the ways our identity in God shapes how we lead, serve, and relate to others. They talk about why authority is something we receive rather than something we have to manufacture, and how staying connected to God helps us know what we’re actually being invited to do.—FREE RESOURCE:Not sure where you are in your faith development — or how to walk alongside someone who’s in a different place than you? Download the Identity Formation Theory chart free and see all six phases of how humans grow spiritually and psychologically.→ whoology.co/identity—TAKE THE COURSE:Ordinary Discipleship — 8 sessions that will change how your community makes disciples. Built for the 75% that most discipleship materials miss.→ Small Group Course ORDER THE BOOKS:Becoming Good News: Reimagining Discipleship Through Identity, Story, and Science→ Becoming Good NewsOrdinary Discipleship: How God Wires Us for the Adventure of Transformation→ Ordinary DiscipleshipFOLLOW WHOOLOGY:Instagram: instagram.com/ordinarydiscipleshipFacebook: facebook.com/ordinarydiscipleshipFOLLOW JESSIE:Instagram: instagram.com/yourbrainbyjessFacebook: facebook.com/jessica.s.cruickshankABOUT JESSIE:Jessie Cruickshank holds a Master’s degree in experiential education from Harvard and has spent 30 years studying how the brain actually learns, grows, and changes. She’s the author of Ordinary Discipleship and the architect of Identity Formation Theory, a framework for understanding where people are in their spiritual and psychological development. She believes discipleship was never meant to be a solo journey, and neuroscience backs her up.

What does it look like to build communities where people can discover and live from their true identity in Christ? In this episode, Julia, Jessie, and Jacob explore the difference between being and doing, why transformation can’t be reduced to a strategy, and how healthy community creates space for people to hear from Jesus, experience healing, and learn to see one another as God does.—FREE RESOURCE:Not sure where you are in your faith development — or how to walk alongside someone who’s in a different place than you? Download the Identity Formation Theory chart free and see all six phases of how humans grow spiritually and psychologically.→ whoology.co/identity—TAKE THE COURSE:Ordinary Discipleship — 8 sessions that will change how your community makes disciples. Built for the 75% that most discipleship materials miss.→ Small Group Course ORDER THE BOOKS:Becoming Good News: Reimagining Discipleship Through Identity, Story, and Science→ Becoming Good NewsOrdinary Discipleship: How God Wires Us for the Adventure of Transformation→ Ordinary DiscipleshipFOLLOW WHOOLOGY:Instagram: instagram.com/ordinarydiscipleshipFacebook: facebook.com/ordinarydiscipleshipFOLLOW JESSIE:Instagram: instagram.com/yourbrainbyjessFacebook: facebook.com/jessica.s.cruickshankABOUT JESSIE:Jessie Cruickshank holds a Master’s degree in experiential education from Harvard and has spent 30 years studying how the brain actually learns, grows, and changes. She’s the author of Ordinary Discipleship and the architect of Identity Formation Theory, a framework for understanding where people are in their spiritual and psychological development. She believes discipleship was never meant to be a solo journey, and neuroscience backs her up.

What if the parts of your story you’ve always seen as failures or flaws aren’t the end of the story? In this episode, we explore Jacob’s journey, the lifelong process of identity formation, and how God meets us in our wrestling to reinterpret, redeem, and reveal who we were created to be.—FREE RESOURCE:Not sure where you are in your faith development — or how to walk alongside someone who’s in a different place than you? Download the Identity Formation Theory chart free and see all six phases of how humans grow spiritually and psychologically.→ whoology.co/identity—TAKE THE COURSE:Ordinary Discipleship — 8 sessions that will change how your community makes disciples. Built for the 75% that most discipleship materials miss.→ Small Group Course ORDER THE BOOKS:Becoming Good News: Reimagining Discipleship Through Identity, Story, and Science→ Becoming Good NewsOrdinary Discipleship: How God Wires Us for the Adventure of Transformation→ Ordinary DiscipleshipFOLLOW WHOOLOGY:Instagram: instagram.com/ordinarydiscipleshipFacebook: facebook.com/ordinarydiscipleshipFOLLOW JESSIE:Instagram: instagram.com/yourbrainbyjessFacebook: facebook.com/jessica.s.cruickshankABOUT JESSIE:Jessie Cruickshank holds a Master’s degree in experiential education from Harvard and has spent 30 years studying how the brain actually learns, grows, and changes. She’s the author of Ordinary Discipleship and the architect of Identity Formation Theory, a framework for understanding where people are in their spiritual and psychological development. She believes discipleship was never meant to be a solo journey, and neuroscience backs her up.

This episode explores what happens when we stop making ourselves the center of the story and learn to see our lives within the larger story God is telling. Jacob, Jessie Cruickshank, and Julia Schmaltz talk about sin, shame, identity, and our limitations—and how these things can become invitations to deeper relationship with God rather than reasons to hide from Him.—FREE RESOURCE:Not sure where you are in your faith development — or how to walk alongside someone who’s in a different place than you? Download the Identity Formation Theory chart free and see all six phases of how humans grow spiritually and psychologically.→ whoology.co/identity—TAKE THE COURSE:Ordinary Discipleship — 8 sessions that will change how your community makes disciples. Built for the 75% that most discipleship materials miss.→ Small Group Course ORDER THE BOOKS:Becoming Good News: Reimagining Discipleship Through Identity, Story, and Science→ Becoming Good NewsOrdinary Discipleship: How God Wires Us for the Adventure of Transformation→ Ordinary DiscipleshipFOLLOW WHOOLOGY:Instagram: instagram.com/ordinarydiscipleshipFacebook: facebook.com/ordinarydiscipleshipFOLLOW JESSIE:Instagram: instagram.com/yourbrainbyjessFacebook: facebook.com/jessica.s.cruickshankABOUT JESSIE:Jessie Cruickshank holds a Master’s degree in experiential education from Harvard and has spent 30 years studying how the brain actually learns, grows, and changes. She’s the author of Ordinary Discipleship and the architect of Identity Formation Theory, a framework for understanding where people are in their spiritual and psychological development. She believes discipleship was never meant to be a solo journey, and neuroscience backs her up.

How do we learn to recognize God’s voice? In this episode of the Ordinary Discipleship Podcast, Jacob, Jessie, and Julia explore what it means to listen for God, become attuned to His voice, and discern what we’re hearing through Scripture, our emotions, our identity, and community. They talk about why God’s voice is deeply personal, how intimacy with God helps us recognize His tone, why discernment is something we do together, and the danger of confusing our own agendas or desires with God’s voice. Most importantly, they consider how ordinary discipleship can help people hear God for themselves rather than becoming dependent on someone else to tell them what God is saying.Order Jessie and Julia's book Becoming Good News: Reimagining Discipleship Through Identity, Story, and ScienceORDER Jessie’s book, Ordinary Discipleship: How God Wires Us for the Adventure of TransformationFor more great stuff, check out: Ordinary Discipleship by Whoology: https://whoology.coFollow us on social media:https://instagram.com/ordinarydiscipleshiphttps://facebook.com/ordinarydiscipleshipFollow Jessie on social media:Instagram: https://instagram.com/yourbrainbyjessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessica.s.cruickshank/Twitter: https://twitter.com/yourbrainbyjess

What if your emotions aren't obstacles to spiritual growth, but invitations into deeper discipleship? In this episode of the Ordinary Discipleship Podcast, Jacob, Jessie Cruickshank, and Julia Schmaltz explore why emotions are a good part of God's design, how they can give us important information about what is happening within us, and why we need to feel in order to heal. Together, they discuss how anxiety, grief, anger, fear, and other emotions can become invitations to curiosity, prayer, healing, and a deeper encounter with God. Rather than suppressing or elevating our emotions, what might it look like to receive them, listen to what they are telling us, and allow the Holy Spirit to bring the fuller story?Order Jessie and Julia's book Becoming Good News: Reimagining Discipleship Through Identity, Story, and ScienceORDER Jessie’s book, Ordinary Discipleship: How God Wires Us for the Adventure of TransformationFor more great stuff, check out: Ordinary Discipleship by Whoology: https://whoology.coFollow us on social media:https://instagram.com/ordinarydiscipleshiphttps://facebook.com/ordinarydiscipleshipFollow Jessie on social media:Instagram: https://instagram.com/yourbrainbyjessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessica.s.cruickshank/Twitter: https://twitter.com/yourbrainbyjess

What does it actually look like to disciple children in everyday life? In this episode, Jessie Cruickshank sits down with Natalie Werking to explore how parents and churches can partner together to nurture lasting faith in the next generation. They discuss why simple, everyday faith conversations matter more than having all the right answers, how discipleship changes as children grow, practical "Velcro habits" that weave spiritual practices into daily routines, and why creating space for curiosity and questions is essential. Whether you're a parent, pastor, or ministry leader, this conversation offers practical encouragement and a hopeful vision for helping children discover and follow Jesus.Pre-Order Jessie and Julia's book Becoming Good News: Reimagining Discipleship Through Identity, Story, and ScienceORDER Jessie’s book, Ordinary Discipleship: How God Wires Us for the Adventure of TransformationFor more great stuff, check out: Ordinary Discipleship by Whoology: https://whoology.coFollow us on social media:https://instagram.com/ordinarydiscipleshiphttps://facebook.com/ordinarydiscipleshipFollow Jessie on social media:Instagram: https://instagram.com/yourbrainbyjessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessica.s.cruickshank/Twitter: https://twitter.com/yourbrainbyjess

What if the key to disciple-making isn't a new program, but returning to the way Jesus did it?In this episode, Jessie Cruickshank talks with Peyton Jones about his new book Discipology and the three rhythms Jesus used to form disciples: time, teaching, and tactics. Together they explore why many churches have focused on information over mobilization, how leaders can unintentionally become bottlenecks, and why ordinary believers are God's primary strategy for kingdom movement.Whether you're a pastor, church planter, or everyday follower of Jesus, this conversation will challenge you to slow down, trust the Holy Spirit, and take practical steps toward making disciples who make disciples.In this episode:The three rhythms of disciple-making Jesus modeledWhy mobilization leads to multiplicationHow to activate everyday believers for missionThe role of the Holy Spirit in disciple-makingPractical next steps for making disciples in your everyday lifePre-Order Jessie and Julia's book Becoming Good News: Reimagining Discipleship Through Identity, Story, and ScienceORDER Jessie’s book, Ordinary Discipleship: How God Wires Us for the Adventure of TransformationFor more great stuff, check out: Ordinary Discipleship by Whoology: https://whoology.coFollow us on social media:https://instagram.com/ordinarydiscipleshiphttps://facebook.com/ordinarydiscipleshipFollow Jessie on social media:Instagram: https://instagram.com/yourbrainbyjessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/jessica.s.cruickshank/Twitter: https://twitter.com/yourbrainbyjess