Advertise on podcast: Gold Digger Show: Finding God's Gold in Every Story

Advent was meant for those with dread in their hearts. After all, God incarnated into a world of similar darkness to what we're expereincing today. Yet, that tells us that these are precisely the conditions ripe enough to receive the most miraculous of Divine intervention. Today's episode is all about taking a fearless inventory of the darkness so that we can attune our eyes to a world ablaze with unexpected grace.

Erika Kirk spoke life and love at her husband's memorial service, announcing her resolve to forgive the man who killed her husband. Her leadership and inspiration drew the stadium of Christian folk to their feet as they wept and worshipped God with her.  Only moments between, these same people cheered as President Donald Trump and his Deputy Chief of Staff, Stephen Miller, spewed literal hatred and division.  The same crowd worshipped God and cheered on hatred at the same time.  Today's episode explores this moment and what it says about American Christianit Nationalists' complete loss of the plot of their own faith.

On today's episode we will simply roll around in the gold that I found on August 31st as I was ordained into ministry. The healing that I experienced on that day can only be properly understood in the context of Christian patriarchy and the damnable doctrine of female subordination. Join me as I celebrate this day with joy and also with tears of grief as I count the cost of gender based hierarchy in the Family of God.

Last week, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared an interview with Doug Wilson and his fellow pastors in which they claimed the 19th Amendment should be repealed becasue women are God-ordained to be absorbed into the households of men who are the "heads" and should do the voting for them. Normally, we might dismiss this as some fringe Christian Nationalism content that should be ignorned because of it's lack of consequence to our own lives. However, this was an interview with CNN and Doug Wilson's unhinged beliefs about women and minorities are gaining popularity with some of the people sitting in the seats of the highest offices in America.  We can't afford to ignore these ideas because ideas turn into policies and policies determine the trajectory of our lives and world. Today's episode focuses on Doug Wilson, his beliefs about gender and race, and why it's important that we fight back these ideologies with every bit of strength we have within us.

The next few episodes will focus on how we can live, move, and have our being in Divine light and love, even during devastating, scary times. Today I'll tell you Maria's story and how receiving her experiences changed my own story dramatically. We'll also explore the Law of Sowing and Reaping and consider the consequences and blessings of what we're planting in this chaotic world we find ourselves living in right now.

The missing ingredient for a strong center of spiritual resistance (against evil) is often awe/wonder. Jesus taught us how to live as children born again with fresh eyes of awe and wonder, but we often allow ourselves to "grow" out of this heart posture for the purposes of living in "reality." However, what we find is that this "reality" we create for ourselves, devoid of awe and wonder, leads to all manner of evil. What can we do to cultivate this heart posture in a world that seems bent on stripping us of it? Learn to stand and kneel at the same time. Join us today as we expolore what this looks like in a world obsessed with violence and survival.

Theologian Karl Barth compelled Christians of the Third Reich to resist the evil which was besetting the world by becoming accustomed to being "lonely birds under a wide, unconditionally open" sky. What he meant by that is that they (and we!) must establish a center of spiritual reistance so strong that they are willing to go it alone if even the entire world begins to call what is evil good. On today's episode we explore this concept and how a few important shifts in our worldview might enable us to establish a center of spiritual resistance of our own in the times in which we find ourselves living.

For the next several episodes we will explore how to "establish a center of spiritual resistance," as Karl Barth implored the Protestant Christians in Germany to do in 1933. I believe the first step is to commit to being resolute truth tellers in a time and culture where truth is often obscured, ignored, or denied.  Why did the German Christians renegotiate their theology to accommodate the lies of the Third Reich? The answer isn't as simple as we might imagine. Join us as we explore the parallels between the mindsets of the German Christians and Christian Nationalists today.

On today's episode we explore the age-old traps that the German Christians of the Third Reich fell into -- traps to which we've all succumbed at some point or another. The benefit of looking backward and listening deeply to those who've made devastating errors in judgment is that we can learn how to navigate our own journeys with wisdom, discernment, and most importantly love. As much as we'd like to turn off the bad news of the day and pretend we aren't living in extraordinarily challenging times, we don't have that luxury. These times are here, and God has seen fit to call us into being within them. May we steward these lives we've been given to the best of our abilities! And that kind of stewardship begins with listening, attuning to truth, and course correcting with all the wisdom and knowledge we've gained through that process.

On today's episode we cover a lot of ground! Luther's two-shephere theology, "order of creation" doctrine, and the German Christian abuses of speculative theology in the name of Christ. Then we explore Ignatius of Loyola's "Ignation Contemplation" also known as "imaginative prayer." What does this practice have to offer us today? At the end of the episode we practice this form of prayer together.

On today's episode we explore the notion of "Toxic Empathy" that's been making the rounds in political and religious conversations these days. We begin with a story about how empathy saved Amber's family and then we explore how empathy makes us both more human and more like God who is Love.

Today's episode introduces two seemingly opposite topics that actually have surprising overlap -- Ignatian spirituality and the beliefs of the German Christian movement. Both topics hold much wisdom and challenge for us here in the Year of our Lord 2025. We begin with the Welcoming Prayer by Father Thomas Keating and discuss the Ignatian Examen alongside the mindset of the German Christians in 1933. What might God be speaking to us today through our own consolations and desolations?

Today's episode is a reading from a recent newsletter I sent out to subscribers of my Substack. It deals with the scapegoating of the trans community that's been on the rise since the election cycle began and offers a prescription for what ails us -- powerful mothering love.  If you'd like to subscribe to my Substack and receive newsletters from me a few times per month, the link is below.  https://amberhjones.substack.com/

Hello there, Gold Digger! Welcome to Season 15 of the show dedicated to finding God's gold in every beautiful & baffling story. This season, Dr. Amber Hogan Jones will be companioning you through this new & often confusing world in which we find ourselves living in the Year of Our Lord 2025.  This season is gonna hit a little different as we talk politics, world events, & hot topics. What will remain the same is that we will stay laser focused on finding God's gold in it all. The goal for Season 15 is to offer a place of encouragement, kindness, openness and humility in a world that seems bent on going the other way.  We're so glad you're here!

Season 14 has been dedicated to exploring Christian Nationalism and the doctrine of dominionism that has become increasingly normalized in evangelical, and some Catholic, religious spaces in America.  Loren and Amber spend the final episode of the season discussing how they've been spiritually formed through the process of research, reflection, and dialogue regarding the nature of power and how Christians are called to steward it. Where is God's presence and activity in a post-election world, no matter what "side" one is on?