Faith Matters

Today we’re joined by our friend Patrick Mason and filmmaker Robert Reynolds. Rob is the director and producer of the new docu-series An Inconvenient Faith—a project that’s already opening hearts and starting some long-overdue conversations.
This series is raw and honest. It takes on some of the most difficult and tender topics in our faith tradition—things like women and authority, LGBTQ belonging, race and the priesthood, and lots more. And it brings together voices from across the spectrum of faith—people who’ve stayed who are still engaging these issues, and people who have decided to step away. But all of them have one thing in common: they’ve wrestled with these big questions with their whole hearts.
For many of us, this hits close to home. These aren’t abstract issues—this is about our families, our friends, our wards. And so it can be hard to hear a perspective that challenges your own. But Rob explains that his intention here is to help us love better. To help us listen longer and more generously. He hopes it’s a glimpse into the inner wrestles of people you may know and love, to remind us that behind every decision is a real human being, and behind these questions is a heart that wants to do what’s right.
This episode is for anyone who loves someone who’s landed in a different place in their faith. If you’re looking for peace, for trust, for more compassion in the middle of complexity—we think you’ll find something meaningful here.
We’re so grateful to Rob and Patrick for showing us what that can look like.
Listen to the audiobook of The Bible Storybook by Sarah and Josh Sabey in Scripture Stories for Little Saints on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Our donors and paid subscribers make this collaboration possible--thank you for your support!

Today, we want to introduce you to another podcast in the Faith Matters Podcast Network called Sanctuary: Discovering the Temple, hosted by Larkin Swain. Larkin brings a candid, curious, and thoughtful approach to conversations about the temple, and this episode felt especially fascinating and timely as we begin a new year studying the Old Testament.
In this episode, Larkin speaks with historical linguist Jared Lambert, whose work focuses on language development, temple theology, and how translation and symbolism have reshaped biblical traditions.
Jared brings a linguistic lens to the Genesis creation story, uncovering rich meanings that have evolved over time and even been lost in translation. His perspectives are both mind-expanding and spiritually moving.
He reexamines the portrayal of God in Genesis, unpacks the symbolism of the temple endowment, and offers what feels like a powerful missing piece in our traditional telling of Adam and Eve’s story.
We hope this conversation sparks fresh insight and deep reflection as you revisit these foundational stories. 
Be sure to follow Sanctuary on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Substack, or YouTube for curious, open, and honest conversations about the temple!
Listen to the audiobook of The Bible Storybook by Sarah and Josh Sabey in Scripture Stories for Little Saints on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Our donors and paid subscribers make this collaboration possible--thank you for your support!

Today we’re sharing a conversation with writers and filmmakers Sarah and Josh Sabey about their new project, The Bible Storybook, a two volume collection of 50 stories from the Old Testament.
You might remember their Book of Mormon Storybook. Like those earlier volumes, this new project is guided by a simple and beautiful idea: “These are stories about a real God who loves real people”—people who are complicated, wounded, and doing their best to understand how God is working in their lives.
For many of us, the Old Testament can feel troubling—full of contradictions, harsh laws, and stories that might not always align with the God we’ve come to know through Jesus. So if the thought of spending a whole year studying this text feels daunting, this episode is especially for you.
Sarah and Josh offer a powerful way back into these familiar stories through a fresh and deeply thoughtful lens. While staying fully anchored in the text, they invite us to see the people and events in new and meaningful ways.
Their storytelling will invite you to consider what the Exodus story teaches us about revenge and healing. What if Cain was actually the first perfectionist, undone by his own impossible expectations? What can Jonah reveal about our own gifts and heartbreak?
Their retellings don’t avoid what’s difficult—they honor the tension. Again and again, they show how the complexity and even the discomfort of the Old Testament can become fertile ground for a deeper, more expansive faith.
We hope this episode leaves you feeling so excited to dive into this text again—to rediscover the Old Testament as a living well of wisdom, beauty, with a God who still meets us in the mess.
We’ve also partnered with Josh and Sarah to make half of the audiobook stories available to everyone as a podcast called Scripture Stories for Little Saints you can listen to with your kids, in the car, as part of your Old Testament study, and share with friends. The full audiobook is available as a private podcast for Friends of Faith Matters—thank you for your generosity making this collaboration possible. You can send us an email at [email protected] or check the instructions on our website if you need help downloading it.
Listen to the audiobook of The Bible Storybook by Sarah and Josh Sabey in Scripture Stories for Little Saints on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Our donors and paid subscribers make this collaboration possible--thank you for your support!

Today we’re bringing you a conversation with Carl Richards, and we think this one might just change the way you think—and feel—about money.
You might know Carl as The Sketch Guy from his decade-long New York Times column, where he offered disarmingly relatable insights about money using just cardstock and a Sharpie.
For Carl, money isn’t about spreadsheets and savings accounts—it’s a mirror, reflecting to us what we value most deeply. And for this reason, he believes money sits at the center of our spiritual lives.
In this conversation, Carl invites us to become what he calls “world-class spenders”—not by spending more, but by spending more intentionally, in ways that align with our deepest values.
Carl is a Certified Financial Planner, the bestselling author of The Behavior Gap and Your Money, and hosts the 50 Fires podcast where he has frank, funny, and sometimes difficult conversations about money with guests from all walks of life.
Carl believes that money is the last taboo—the topic we often still avoid even with those closest to us. But he has such a gift for helping us recognize the stories and wounds that are shaping our efforts to be good stewards now.
So whether you’re thinking about end-of-year giving or hoping for a fresh start in the new year, we hope this conversation helps you feel more grounded in your values and more empowered to live—and give—from that place.
If you want more of Carl’s insights, definitely check out his podcast 50 Fires—it’s full of honest, thought-provoking conversations about money with really fascinating guests, and his new book, Your Money: Reimagining Wealth in 101 Simple Sketches. It’s smart, accessible, and genuinely so fun to read—you can get it on Amazon or wherever books are sold.
Listen to the audiobook of The Bible Storybook by Sarah and Josh Sabey in Scripture Stories for Little Saints on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Our donors and paid subscribers make this collaboration possible--thank you for your support!

As we move into Christmas week, we wanted to offer something a little different. 
Today’s episode is a reading of “In the Bleak Midwinter,” written and read by Peter Conti‑Brown, and originally published in the Faith Matters magazine, Wayfare.
It tells the true story of a Christmas that unfolded in unexpected ways—marked by absence, uncertainty, and pain. And yet, it’s also a story about how grace finds its way to us—through presence, through each other, and through the quiet mystery of ordinary, imperfect people becoming God’s healing hands in the moments when we need it most.
We hope this opens up space for you to feel whatever this season is bringing, and to notice the quiet ways love might be showing up.
From all of us at Faith Matters and Wayfare, we’re wishing you a Christmas filled with the peace of this season, and moments of deep connection and joy.
We’d also love to invite you to subscribe to Wayfare Magazine. Wayfare shares thoughtful, beautifully written essays each week through its email newsletter, and publishes stunning print editions twice a year—featuring original artwork and design that make each issue a work of art in itself. A Wayfare subscription also makes a meaningful gift for the thoughtful, curious reader in your life.
To learn more or to subscribe, just head to wayfaremagazine.org/subscribe.
Listen to the audiobook of The Bible Storybook by Sarah and Josh Sabey in Scripture Stories for Little Saints on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Our donors and paid subscribers make this collaboration possible--thank you for your support!