Soma SoulWorks Podcast

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Soma Games earns a small percentage from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you, but all of our recommendations and opinions are our own.

Welcome to the Soma SoulWorks Podcast! This podcast serves to help people, particularly those who may label themselves as "creatives," to seek wholeness and calling so they are ready to embrace the mission God has for them. Consider this podcast a rogue harmony of professional development and self-care, hosted by Chris Skaggs.
This Achievement Guide series suggests a set of practices and ideals meant to shield our hearts and minds from the most common pitfalls we encounter. At its best, it is an expression of community, taken up in the belief that none of get through this world alone. We need help from one another to live the lives God meant for us. It is also embraced in humility, recognizing that we are all prone to specific lures and spiritual threats that require us to take extra care with our practices.

What’s covered in this episode:
Instead of the individualism and isolation facilitated and encouraged by screens and controllers, we practice the presence of others IRL with a special effort to share space with those who are not part of our daily work. We pursue diversity across class, gender, and ethnicity in our friendships, partnerships, and mentoring relationships.

• There is a stereotype of the “starving artist” who is driven to create but often struggles to earn a living doing so. However, Neil Sauvageau points out that, "Starving artists don’t mind starving as long as they get the joy from creating.”
• Mark Söderwall refers to artists as “creatives” and addresses the issue of value and exploitation. He points out that many artists get taken advantage of because they do not know or realize the monetary value of their creations. This is because most artists find their value in simply doing what they love or creating something that other people will love.
• When we look at the Bible, there aren’t artists specifically mentioned by name, so what is the role of art in the Kingdom?
• While reflecting on purpose and gifts, Neil says, “Whatever you are built with, do it well. If that’s art...guess what? Do it well!”
• Not many artists are proud to show off their work...why is that? Vulnerability. It’s easier to hide than to receive feedback or criticism.
• How can we feed artists moving forward? What’s missing or needs to change? The team discusses different ideas of ways to help artists grow and find their identity in Christ instead of what they produce.

Resources mentioned:

• Sign up for the Tempus Divum newsletter
• Become a Patron

Email us ideas, questions, or suggestions at [email protected]

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Soma Games earns a small percentage from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you, but all of our recommendations and opinions are our own.

Welcome to the Soma SoulWorks Podcast! This podcast serves to help people, particularly those who may label themselves as "creatives," to seek wholeness and calling so they are ready to embrace the mission God has for them. Consider this podcast a rogue harmony of professional development and self-care, hosted by John Bergquist and Chris Skaggs.

What’s covered in this episode:

• Soma Games started in 2005, there was more at stake than just breaking into the videogame industry. “God started a game company, but didn’t start with games,” says Chris Skaggs.
• Since then, God has opened doors. First with a mobile game, then the opportunity to work with Redwall, and soon the studio was turning heads. 2018 marked the release of Lost Legends of Redwall: Act I, and a chance to pause and think about the vision of Soma Games itself. This realization led to the 2019 Vision Quest.
• What caught the public’s attention was not the game itself, but the people. John Dale, friend of Soma, made the observation once that, “all of your God stories are not about your product. They’re about the people. They’re about the influence that you had on people. That’s what God has gifted you with.”
• From the beginning, the response to Soma Games has been overwhelming. People are encouraged by the fact that this kind of studio exists, and as potential game developers, they think, “if you exist, maybe I can do it too.”
• The Vision Quest really helped to solidify this mission: To be culturally aware and build culture in the entertainment space, as opposed to building products.
• This mission manifests itself in ways like Soma SoulWorks, the umbrella for our various ministry efforts outside of direct game development. It’s a message that mainly serves those in the “Warrior-Poet Phase” as Chris calls them. Young adult adventurers discovering life and their purpose in a time that offers plenty of questions and few answers.
• Soma SoulWorks aims to equip followers with a firm foundation to balance creativity, honor, and faith, and feed their hunger to make the world a better place.
• Mark Söderwall, a veteran in the gaming industry, says that Soma Games is different from most studios out there. The focus is on the people. “Once you know what motivates someone and what drives their heart,” he says, “you can help them feel more seen and heard, and give them momentum. Most companies are very much interested in the professional, and not the person.”
• The purpose behind Soma Games is that it’s not enough to create a Christian game company, we need to create a mindset and give people the tools they need to have a good foundation and find their calling. “It’s not a leader, it’s not a company, it’s not a product. It’s an ethos.” - Chris Skaggs

Resources mentioned:

• Soma Mission and Vision Statement
• The Origin Story of Soma Games
• Sign up for the Tempus Divum newsletter

Email us ideas, questions or suggestions at [email protected]

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, Soma Games earns a small percentage from qualifying purchases at no additional cost to you, but all of our recommendations and opinions are our own.
Welcome to the Soma SoulWorks Podcast! This podcast serves to help people, particularly those who may label themselves as "creatives," to seek wholeness and calling so they are ready to embrace the mission God has for them. Consider this podcast a rogue harmony of professional development and self-care, hosted by John Bergquist and Chris Skaggs.
What’s covered in this episode:

• The Stronghold of Warfare doesn’t have a margin for how spiritual warfare affects your daily life. The lies behind it sound like some variation of, "Everything that happens is a result either of yourself or the people around you. The spiritual stuff isn’t real."
• There is no gauge for the spiritual war or even the existence of an enemy.
• “You may not know why you were created, but God does, and so does the enemy," says Gavin
• This all begins with an inciting event: You’re wounded, emotionally or spiritually, but you may not be aware there’s another voice in the conversation—a voice that isn’t God’s or yours. The enemy’s entire goal is to steal, kill, and destroy. He wants to rob us of our passions and joy, and this eventually kills our hearts, Chris says.
• How does this manifest in an artist’s life? As John “JB” shares, every kid starts out as an artist. They only stop when someone tells them they can’t draw. Perfectionism—or paralysis by analysis—has stopped many artists from becoming artists. Jason says, “Actually going and doing art is warfare.” Awareness of this attack on our art is vital to the process, otherwise we’re vulnerable to the paralyzation that follows. Art is a form of worship, and when we worship, the enemy has to shut up and listen.
• How to combat it:
  • Identify the area of warfare. “I want to know what the enemy was going after. I want to know why he thinks it’s dangerous, because I want to make it more dangerous.” Gavin
  • Think about what triggers you, look into the root cause.
  • Undo the stronghold, and replace the lie with the scriptural truth.

Resources mentioned:

• The Matrix
• Bootcamp Northwest
• The Spirit of the Disciplines: Understanding How God Changes Lives by Dallas Willard
• The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
• Sign up for the Tempus Divum newsletter

Email us ideas, questions or suggestions at [email protected]

Do you work from home? Are you an employer for people who do? Are you thinking about switching to a work-from-home model? Today on the Soma SoulWorks Podcast, we talk about our experiences with a hybrid office model, give some pointers to offices looking to transition, and provide helpful advice on how to work from home healthily.
Find more information about us on our website and consider joining the conversation with your circle with our small group studies that loosely follow our podcast, which is available every week for free.

Welcome to the Soma SoulWorks Podcast! This podcast serves to help people, particularly those who may label themselves as "creatives," to seek wholeness and calling so they are ready to embrace the mission God has for them. Consider this podcast a rogue harmony of professional development and self-care, hosted by John Bergquist and Chris Skaggs.
What’s covered in this episode:

• This episode covers the stronghold of busyness. Chris defines a stronghold as a “habit of thought." This isn’t just having a full schedule -- it’s going from task to task with no margin for self-care, relationships, or time with God.
• The goal for this series is that we learn to recognize unhelpful strongholds, so we can replace them with healthy strongholds.
• Symptoms of a busyness stronghold:
  • A need for the calendar to be full
  • Unstructured time feels luxurious
  • A pressure to be productive
  • Guilt in saying “no”
  • No margins to create, breathe, or rest
• The lies that perpetrate this way of thinking:
  • Margin is wasteful or frivolous
  • The subtle pressure that busyness is holy
• There is a cultural suggestion that busyness equals value. However, taking time to rest is deeply biblical (check out Psalm 37:7, Genesis 2:2, Exodus 14:14, Isaiah 32:17). One of the ten commandments is that we take a day of sabbath.
• Rest is the antidote to our mindsets of busyness.
  • Make a habit of it
  • Start small
  • Being in nature is especially helpful
  • Recognize transitions in your day
  • Connect with God
• When you’re feeling the familiar tension of busyness, bring it to Christ. As you do this you’ll regain your ability to wait patiently. Over time, your resilience will increase.
• Jesus exemplified this in the gospels. He made it a regular, deliberate habit to get away from everything and be still with God.

Resources mentioned:

• The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World by John Mark Comer
• One Minute Pause App by Wild At Heart
• Get Your Life Back: Everyday Practices for a World Gone Mad by John Eldredge
• Fire Your Boss: Discover Work You Love Without Quitting Your Job by Aaron McHugh
• “The Connector Recharged” by John “JB” Bergquist
• The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr
• Beautiful Outlaw: Experiencing the Playful, Disruptive, Extravagant Personality of Jesus by John Eldredge
• Soul Keeping: Caring For the Most Important Part of You by John Ortberg
• Sign up for the Tempus Divum newsletter

Email us ideas, questions or suggestions at [email protected]