“Thoughts Beyond Thought” is an unscripted conversation hosted by Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle. This bonus episode is a cheerful take on the holidays with a few bloopers from the Season:

-Travis explains why a certain year anniversary has made the holidays a time of gratefulness for their family

-Chris acknowledges why some find the holidays painful while others feel blessed, then discusses gift giving in lieu of the wise men’s gifts in Matthew 2.

-The guys discuss and give some ideas around gift giving.

-Travis shares a theory that Santa is preparation to believe in Jesus, but Chris always worried that once his kids stopped believing in Santa they would question faith in Jesus.

-The guys introduce and play several bloopers from Season 1.

-And finally, the “Beyond Books” segment.

Links: Samaritan’s Purse: Operation Christmas Child

“Thoughts Beyond Thought” is hosted and produced by Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle, edited by Chris Fogle, holiday artwork by Erin Meredith, Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle.

“Thoughts Beyond Thought” is an unscripted conversation hosted by Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle. This episode mashes stress and superabundance together. Here’s a summary:

-The guys have their Quick Ketchup where Chris talks about change saturation and Travis discusses work stress, prioritization, and how these impact our external spirituality.

-Travis explains how his dad’s death has impacted how he deals with stress.

-Chris hypothesizes that because we’re not perfect, maybe when we falter due to stress, we have grace with ourselves and mature on quickly getting back to our healthy mindset.

-Ask ourselves if stress is from discontentment or change, and act accordingly.

-Chris brings up Professors Tupy and Pooley’s book Superabundance (link below). Their research shows that globally we’re not headed toward an apocalypse, but resources are now more abundant.

-The guys wrestle with caveats to that idea and recognize resource management and transit is still an issue.

-Taking responsibility for poor decisions, both personally and nationally.

-We don’t have a crystal ball, but we should humbly evaluate ourselves to consider where we’re currently complicit or actively impacting the world negatively.

-And finally, the “Beyond Books” segment.

Links:

-Professors Marian Tupy and Gale Pooley’s book Superabundance.

“Thoughts Beyond Thought” is hosted and produced by Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle, artwork by Erin Meredith, edited by Chris Fogle.

“Thoughts Beyond Thought” is an unscripted conversation hosted by Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle. This episode kicks off a series on spiritual practices (sometimes called “spiritual disciplines”). Here’s a rundown:

-Chris defines spiritual practices as: “habits you can develop based on your values.”

-In this first episode, the guys discuss the practice of meditation.

-Comparison of Eastern and Christian meditation.

-What mediation’s purpose is and isn’t.

-The four Forms of biblical meditation from Celebration of Discipline: 1. of Scripture (meditatio Scripturarum, meaning: “meditating on Scripture” or lectio divina, meaning: “divine reading”); 2. “Re-collection” or “centering down;” 3. On creation; and 4. Current events.

-Chris adds a fifth Form: On the character of God.

-An epiphany that the mind isn’t emptied if God’s voice fills that emptiness.

-Travis explains how he has worked backwards on meditation and how God’s voice is one of encouragement.

-How meditation can give us a different perspective and optimistic view of humanity.

-And finally, the “Beyond Books” segment.

Links:

-The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer, 2019

-Celebration of Discipline by Richard J. Foster, 1978/2018

“Thoughts Beyond Thought” is hosted and produced by Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle, artwork by Erin Meredith, edited by Chris Fogle.

“Thoughts Beyond Thought” is an unscripted conversation hosted by Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle. This episode covers:

-The guys have a Quick Ketchup then…

-Chris reads four of Travis’ thoughts and then picks one as the topic for the episode.

-The theme comes from Travis’ thought: “This is the furthest point of existence.”

-Should we study history? Should we spend more time focusing on the present? Is there a balance?

-Did Jesus mean to have His words recorded and taught?

-Wrestling with the hollowness of words and asking if they are meaningless.

-Chris challenges Travis to read the whole Bible, for the right reason.

-Discussing why God told humanity about the future. And asking is there hope in eternity?

-The guys ask if absolute truth exists. Chris makes an argument for absolute truth by airing Travis’ dirty laundry, in a seemingly random event that had just occurred.

-Chris gets preachy about Jesus’ authority, hope, and guarantee of heaven in His discussion with the thief on the cross.
-Travis describes his out of body experience.

-And finally, the “Beyond Books” segment.

Links:

Chris' article: "The Great Wave off Kanagawa: Foreign Yet Familiar"

Widewalls article: "The Great Hokusai - Why do We Still Obsess over that Japanese Wave Painting?”

“Thoughts Beyond Thought” is hosted and produced by Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle, artwork by Erin Meredith, edited by Chris Fogle.

“Thoughts Beyond Thought” is an unscripted conversation hosted by Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle. This episode covers:

-The guys have a Quick Ketchup then…

-The show’s first ever “Turbo Scroll.”

-The theme comes from Travis’ thought: “Waste no time being afraid, for fear is nothing more than a thought. It holds no truth.”

-Desire for control
-Victim mentality

-Overemphasizing “no fear” is fear based

-Discussing Isaiah 41:10

-Is one of the guys a “Twilight” fan?

-Can collectively fueled fear bring it to fruition?

-Rooting out fear

-Asking God to help by developing a relationship with Him

-And finally, the “Beyond Books” segment.

“Thoughts Beyond Thought” is hosted and produced by Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle, artwork by Erin Meredith, edited by Chris Fogle.

“Thoughts Beyond Thought” is an unscripted conversation hosted by Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle. This follow-up to Episode 2 ("Sexual Abuse in the Church") discusses enabling factors and character traits for unhealthy and abusive church leaders. The episode covers:

-A leader’s “ability” before character formation, our love of celebrity, arrogance, lack of accountability, issues with a visionary on a special mission. unquestioned loyalty, consolidated power, and refusal or excuses for being mentored.

-Human nature's propensity to be tempted by power and whether any leaders can be trusted.

-Realizing we are partly to blame for empowering, respecting and worshipping these prideful personalities, but we must acknowledge seeing the same problems in the mirror.

-Because we are complicit, now that we know what to look for, what can we do? Some suggestions covered are: don’t overgeneralize, don’t implicitly trust but don’t distrust everyone either, see how the leaders lives their life (and if you can’t get close enough to know, follow someone else).

-And finally, the “Beyond Books” segment.

Link: “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill” podcast.

“Thoughts Beyond Thought” is hosted and produced by Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle, edited by Bryce Meredith, artwork by Erin Meredith.

“Thoughts Beyond Thought” is an unscripted conversation hosted by Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle. Travis shares three separate thoughts from his 600+ notes. This episode covers: 

-Can God and the Bible evolve? 

-A brief history of the New Testament 

-Can life be about convincing ourselves that one thing is true. Or does it distract from living life? 

-When the Holy Spirit speaks to us today shouldn’t it line up with what He said in the Bible? 

-Does humanity deserve to be here? Are we harming the earth beyond repair? 

-Environmentalism 

-Are people naturally pessimistic? And can looking for the hope and peace of God bring joy? 

-Finally, the “Beyond Books” segment. 

“Thoughts Beyond Thought” is hosted and produced by Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle, edited by Bryce Meredith, artwork by Erin Meredith.

*Please be aware sexual abuse is discussed in this episode which may be a trigger for some listeners.* “Thoughts Beyond Thought” is an unscripted conversation hosted by Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle. The most recent church sexual abuse case came out in the news in May 2022 when a report was released by the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Chris was galvanized to discuss the horrific history and trend of sexual abuse within Christian churches. This episode covers: 

-A general discussion on how and why the SBC initiated the third-party report. 

-The SBC leadership structure, attorneys, and cover up. -Wrestling with how funds could hypothetically be used for different reasons. 

-A call to other denominations and independent churches to conduct third-party investigations on themselves and bring findings into the light. 

-6 suggestions on how we can help prevent and fight against sexual abuse. 

-And finally, the “Beyond Books” segment. 

Links: 

-Independent Report on SBC Sexual Abuse.

-Christianity Today article “Southern Baptists Refused to Act on Abuse, Despite Secret List of Pastors” by Kate Shellnut.

-GRACE Organization

“Thoughts Beyond Thought” is hosted and produced by Travis Meredith and Chris Fogle, edited by Bryce Meredith, artwork by Erin Meredith.