What happens when charisma outruns character? /// FOLLOW x UP with Michele Cushatt

Why is “enough” is so hard to say? /// FOLLOW x UP with Michele Cushatt

Episode 007: Why is “enough” is so hard to say? In a culture that constantly urges us toward the next achievement, experience, purchase, or milestone, gratitude can feel surprisingly difficult. Why is it so hard to believe that what we have—and where we are right now—is enough? In this episode of the FOLLOW x UP podcast, Steve Carter, Eric Parks, and Michele Cushatt explore the prayer of thanksgiving and why gratitude is much more than a fleeting feeling. Together they discuss the difference between chasing dopamine hits and cultivating contentment, the role suffering plays in shaping our capacity for joy, and how learning to be fully present can transform the way we experience God’s goodness. Through conversations about coffee, memorable meals, social media, Psalm 23, and the neuroscience of gratitude, they unpack what it means to adopt a posture of thanksgiving in both the beautiful and difficult moments of life. Rather than ignoring pain or pretending everything is fine, gratitude becomes a way of recognizing God’s faithfulness in the middle of real life—and learning to say, even in uncertainty, “Thanks be to God. Enough.” Meet your hosts, Eric Parks and Steve Carter Eric Parks Eric is an Executive Pastor at Plum Creek Church in Castle Rock, Colorado, who cares deeply about helping people rehearse the way of Jesus in everyday life—and holds firm as a Denver Broncos fan, no matter how often Steve brings up the Bears. Steve Carter Steve is the Lead Pastor at Christ Church in Oak Brook, Illinois, offering a thoughtful and honest voice to the deeper work of formation and calling—and remains a devoted Chicago Bears fan, even with Eric representing Broncos country. Explore all of Follow We’re all following something—habits, expectations, ambition—but Jesus offers a different way. A way marked by love, presence, trust, and a life that actually leads somewhere good. Not perfectly, but increasingly, we begin to shape our lives around his. We believe that if Jesus is right—about God, about life, about the soul—then is only makes sense to rearrange your life around what he says is true. Follow isn’t a program to complete or a path to master, but a way of life centered on Jesus. A way of living that takes shape over time through a steady rearrangement of our lives—our priorities, our rhythms, and the things we trust most. Links Follow: https://www.followtheway.church/ [https://www.followtheway.church/] Plum...

Can getting lost get you found? /// FOLLOW x UP

Episode 006: Can getting lost get you found? In this episode of the FOLLOW x UP podcast, Eric Parks and Steve Carter explore the ancient practice of pilgrimage and why movement, disorientation, and embodied faith can become powerful parts of spiritual formation. Steve reflects on walking the Camino, the gift of traveling lightly, and a moment of forgiveness that helped him realize he was carrying things he no longer needed to carry. Eric shares stories from Italy, Vietnam, and everyday thresholds that have helped him see pilgrimage not only as a journey across the world, but as a way of moving through ordinary life with intention. Together, they talk about why Western Christians often separate spiritual life from the body, how pilgrimage creates “structured disorientation,” and why being lost can sometimes become an invitation to be found by the goodness of God. If something in you feels disoriented, interrupted, or uncertain, this episode is an invitation to see that space differently. Maybe being lost is not the end of the story. Maybe it is the beginning of being found. Meet your hosts, Eric Parks and Steve Carter Eric Parks Eric is an Executive Pastor at Plum Creek Church in Castle Rock, Colorado, who cares deeply about helping people rehearse the way of Jesus in everyday life—and holds firm as a Denver Broncos fan, no matter how often Steve brings up the Bears. Steve Carter Steve is the Lead Pastor at Christ Church in Oak Brook, Illinois, offering a thoughtful and honest voice to the deeper work of formation and calling—and remains a devoted Chicago Bears fan, even with Eric representing Broncos country. Explore all of Follow We’re all following something—habits, expectations, ambition—but Jesus offers a different way. A way marked by love, presence, trust, and a life that actually leads somewhere good. Not perfectly, but increasingly, we begin to shape our lives around his. We believe that if Jesus is right—about God, about life, about the soul—then is only makes sense to rearrange your life around what he says is true. Follow isn’t a program to complete or a path to master, but a way of life centered on Jesus. A way of living that takes shape over time through a steady rearrangement of our lives—our priorities, our rhythms, and the things we trust most. Links Follow: https://www.followtheway.church/ [https://www.followtheway.church/] Plum...

What if the story in your head isn’t true? /// FOLLOW x UP

Epissode 005: What if the story in your head isn’t true? Eric and Steve explore the stories people live inside of—and how those stories quietly shape identity, grief, fear, ambition, and spiritual formation. Through personal reflection on seasons of betrayal, disappointment, rebuilding, and unexpected change, they talk about what happens when the narrative you thought would define your life suddenly falls apart. Along the way, they unpack the internal scripts that replay in our minds, the false beliefs we inherit about worth and achievement, and the slow process of learning to replace those stories with what God says is true. The conversation moves through grief, trauma, performance, healing, and formation, ultimately asking: what story are you allowing to tell you who you are? Meet your hosts, Eric Parks and Steve Carter Eric Parks Eric is an Executive Pastor at Plum Creek Church in Castle Rock, Colorado, who cares deeply about helping people rehearse the way of Jesus in everyday life—and holds firm as a Denver Broncos fan, no matter how often Steve brings up the Bears. Steve Carter Steve is the Lead Pastor at Christ Church in Oak Brook, Illinois, offering a thoughtful and honest voice to the deeper work of formation and calling—and remains a devoted Chicago Bears fan, even with Eric representing Broncos country. Explore all of Follow We’re all following something—habits, expectations, ambition—but Jesus offers a different way. A way marked by love, presence, trust, and a life that actually leads somewhere good. Not perfectly, but increasingly, we begin to shape our lives around his. We believe that if Jesus is right—about God, about life, about the soul—then is only makes sense to rearrange your life around what he says is true. Follow isn’t a program to complete or a path to master, but a way of life centered on Jesus. A way of living that takes shape over time through a steady rearrangement of our lives—our priorities, our rhythms, and the things we trust most. Links Follow: https://www.followtheway.church/ [https://www.followtheway.church/] Plum...

What happens when charisma outruns character? /// FOLLOW x UP with Michele Cushatt

Episode 004: What happens when charisma outruns character? Very few people finish well. That reality is sobering, especially for those in Christian leadership. In this episode of the FOLLOW x UP podcast, Eric Parks sits down with Steve Carter and returning guest Michele Cushatt for a deeply honest conversation about formation, leadership, church hurt, charisma, character, and the systems that can quietly shape pastors and communities over time. Together, they explore why moral failure rarely happens all at once, how the pressures of platform and influence can distort a leader’s soul, and why spiritual formation must be more than something leaders teach — it has to be something they are actively living. This conversation is not only for pastors. It is for anyone who has experienced hurt in the church, anyone who has placed a leader on a pedestal, and anyone who wants to follow Jesus with integrity for the long haul. The invitation is simple and searching: do the work beneath the surface, resist the drift toward adoration, and build lives and communities that help one another finish well. Meet your hosts, Eric Parks and Steve Carter Eric Parks Eric is an Executive Pastor at Plum Creek Church in Castle Rock, Colorado, who cares deeply about helping people rehearse the way of Jesus in everyday life—and holds firm as a Denver Broncos fan, no matter how often Steve brings up the Bears. Steve Carter Steve is the Lead Pastor at Christ Church in Oak Brook, Illinois, offering a thoughtful and honest voice to the deeper work of formation and calling—and remains a devoted Chicago Bears fan, even with Eric representing Broncos country. Explore all of Follow We’re all following something—habits, expectations, ambition—but Jesus offers a different way. A way marked by love, presence, trust, and a life that actually leads somewhere good. Not perfectly, but increasingly, we begin to shape our lives around his. We believe that if Jesus is right—about God, about life, about the soul—then is only makes sense to rearrange your life around what he says is true. Follow isn’t a program to complete or a path to master, but a way of life centered on Jesus. A way of living that takes shape over time through a steady rearrangement of our lives—our priorities, our rhythms, and the things we trust most. Links Follow: https://www.followtheway.church/ [https://www.followtheway.church/] Plum...

Can we learn to wander well? /// FOLLOW x UP with Michele Cushatt

Episode 003: What if formation is not about outcomes? In this episode of the FOLLOW x UP podcast, Steve Carter and Eric Parks are joined by Michele Cushatt, author, teacher, and seminary student, for a conversation about formation, suffering, truth, and the long journey of becoming more like Jesus. Together, Steve, Eric, and Michele explore the tension between growth and mystery, the inspired and acquired parts of formation, and why following Jesus cannot be reduced to outcomes or spiritual efficiency. They talk about suffering, lament, wilderness seasons, and how God often forms us in the places we would rather avoid. The conversation also wrestles with cultural expectations around success, productivity, and certainty. Instead of possessing truth as something to control, Michele invites listeners to pursue truth as a way of knowing Jesus more deeply and allowing his truth to shape us from the inside out. This episode is a reminder that formation is not quick, linear, or outcome-driven. It is a long, slow way of life rooted in knowing Jesus, staying present to tension, and allowing God to form us through solitude, community, suffering, Scripture, and honest conversation. In this episode Steve, Eric, and Michele discuss: *  Michele’s journey into seminary and local ministry  *  The inexhaustibility of God’s word  *  Why tension and mystery are part of spiritual maturity  *  The inspired and acquired parts of formation  *  Lament, suffering, and learning to stay present  *  Wilderness seasons as places of preparation  *  The difference between possessing truth and pursuing truth  *  Why formation is not about outcomes, but about a person  *  Solitude, community, and long-term rootedness  *  Resisting cultural definitions of success  *  Becoming more like Jesus over the long haul Meet your hosts, Eric Parks and Steve Carter Eric Parks Eric is an Executive Pastor at Plum Creek Church in Castle Rock, Colorado, who cares deeply about helping people rehearse the way of Jesus in everyday life—and holds firm as a Denver Broncos fan, no matter how often Steve brings up the Bears. Steve Carter Steve is the Lead Pastor at Christ Church in Oak Brook, Illinois, offering a thoughtful and honest voice to the deeper work of formation and calling—and remains a devoted Chicago Bears fan, even with Eric representing Broncos country. Explore all of Follow We’re all following something—habits, expectations, ambition—but Jesus offers a different way. A way marked by love, presence, trust, and a life that actually leads somewhere good. Not perfectly, but increasingly, we begin to shape our lives around his. We believe that if Jesus is right—about God, about life, about the soul—then is only makes sense to rearrange your life around what he says is true. Follow isn’t a program to complete or a path to master, but a way of life centered on Jesus. A way of living that takes shape over time through a steady rearrangement of our lives—our priorities, our rhythms, and the things we trust most. Links Follow: https://www.followtheway.church/ [https://www.followtheway.church/] Plum...