Dr. Steve McSwain,

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Dr. Steve McSwain: Award-winning Author, Speaker, Thought Leader, Spiritual Teacher Expert

Dr. Steve McSwain,

Dr. Steve McSwain, Quick Facts

Main Areas
Spirituality, Philanthropy, Human Development, Spiritual Development, Self-Improvement, Motivation, Leadership Development
Best Sellers
The Enoch Factor: The Sacred Art of Knowing God; The Giving Myths: Giving then Getting the Life You've Always Wanted
Career Focus
Author, Inspirational and Motivational Speaker, Philanthropist
Affiliation
AFP - Association of Fundraising Professionals

Dr. Steve McSwain - Award-winning Author, Speaker, Thought Leader, Spiritual Teacher.

Coaching Executives, Business, Community and Religious Leaders, Faith-Based Organizations, and people just like you, in…The Art of Leadership; The Laws of Success; The Life You Live; The Legacy You Leave Hi, my name is Steve. I teach leadership and the laws of success. When you follow these laws, you “transcend limitations,” as Patanjali said, the ancient yogi teacher of wisdom. “Your consciousness expands in every direction…You find yourself in a new, great, and wonderful world. Dormant forces, faculties, and talents become alive, and you discover yourself to be a greater person by far than you ever dreamed yourself to be.” I’m a comedian, too. I know that’s a little weird, but it’s true. I’m in a comedy act with a professional comedian, Mark Klein. He’s Jewish. I’m Christian. We call the show,“The Interfaith Comedy Hour.” It’s full of laughs, but the message could not be more needed – respect for each other, interfaith unity, peaceful coexistence. In this increasingly global world, and global economy, what could be more important? Occasionally, I’m a university professor. As an Adjunct Professor of Communication at the University of Kentucky, I teach college students The Art of Persuasive Speaking. Today’s youth are brilliant and they possess a vision of this world that’s full of optimism, hope, and inclusive of all people. To them, I may be the professor. But, when I’m with them, I’m the student. Speaking and writing are my greatest passions. I write and blog for The Washington Post, The Huffington Post, and other national and international publications. Whether a corporate setting or a spiritual gathering, I love to talk about leadership, success in life, the way to nurture your sacred self, and just how the choices you make today shape the legacy you leave tomorrow. Steve@SteveMcSwain.com 502-777-9426

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Dr. Steve McSwain, Books

Articles by this expert

SelfGrowth articles and saved writing connected to this expert.

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I published this article first with the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-mcswain/christianity-is-dying-spirituality-is-thriving_b_1950804.htmlrnr

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Mohandas Gandhi said, "I consider myself a Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, and Confucian."

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It seems rather odd to refer to any of what follows as secrets. For one thing, the word “secret” implies that something is hidden and the wisdom below is anything but secret. In some form or fashion, you could find these in virtually any spiritual tradition. Second, “secret” implies that the spiritual wisdom that would lead one to the life he/she really wants is really only accessible by a few. And, the unfortunate tendency is not to regard your self as one of the select few. But, of course, you are.

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In life, we experience two kinds of fear: Real fear, and psychological fear. Or, as I prefer to think of the latter, ego-fear. In the words of Immanuel Kant, the ego is “our precious little self.” Or as Eckhart Tolle calls it, “the voice in the head.” It isn’t who you really are, but the you that you think you are. Each day, what you see in the mirror is the reflection of your physical being, and within, you may get glimpses of your unique personality in that reflection too, in between your laugh lines or furrowed brow. Still, it's not really you.

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Fact: I am a Christian. Fact: I am straight. Fact: For much too long, I have stood, just as much of the church has, on the wrong side of the gay/lesbian issue.

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"God is dead," said Nietzsche. Well, maybe somewhere, but not here, as the PBS special, God in America makes abundantly clear.

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She says it’s her favorite book ever. And, lately, all my wife talks about is seeing the movie version of Eat, Pray, Love, starring Julia Roberts. So, I finally decided to check it out for myself. I wasn’t expecting much. I got to the first scene, however--the one where the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, cries out to God in prayer--and I was hooked. In a marriage that isn’t working, Gilbert is an emotional train wreck waiting to happen. Since her life makes no sense to her whatsoever, she does what many of us have done when we can’t think of what else to do--she prays.r

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It made little sense to me why my wife would hide Eat, Pray, Love in the nightstand beside our bed. So, when I decided to see what all the fuss was about, I reasoned, “No need to buy a copy since there’s a perfectly good one in the nightstand beside our bed.” You’d have thought I just made off with the Mona Lisa from the Louvre. I promised to protect it, to handle it with as much care as a paleographer would an ancient text—no bending of the edges, no underlining, circling, or writing in the margins—things I typically do with my own books.r

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The church today appears to be more lost than the world it's trying to save. One reason is that the church has so wedded itself to western culture that Christians today look and live more like the culture around them than the Christ before them. The irony is, while the church almost continually rants against the culture, it has in fact embraced it, as well as its values.

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I was introduced to many other religions, not intentionally, but more by accident. My father was a minister, but my mother was a travel agent and tour leader. When I was just a child, she began leading tours and taking groups to Europe and the Middle East, the Scandinavian countries, even to the Far East, including Russia and China. My two brothers and I were the lucky beneficiaries of being raised by parents who took us on vacations to exotic, sometimes strange, but always faraway places.

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Interesting you would ask me this, as others have asked me this question, too, and I suppose it is because I no longer pretend to believe that Christianity is the only way to know God. Yet, as far as my own faith journey is concerned, I regard myself as more Christian today than I've ever been. Admittedly, there are some dramatic differences.

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There is in everyone the longing to know intimacy with the Divine. The only difference between people is that a few are aware of this longing, while most are not. For those who are not, life is a constant challenge, even a frustration, as they search for God everywhere but the one and only place where God could ever be found - which is, inside of you.

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Favorite Quotes & Thoughts from Dr. Steve McSwain,

Receive everything as God's gift to you;

Learn from everything as your gift to yourself; and,

Live what you learn as your gift to the world

--Dr. Steve McSwain

“What could you not accept, if you but knew that everything that happens, all events, past, present, and to come, are gently planned by One Whose only purpose is your good?”-- from A Course in Miracles

If you think it’s going to rain…it will.-- Clint Eastwood

“Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and whatever you resist, persists” p 75 (Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth, (New York, NY: Plume 2005), 75.

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours.” -- Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862).

“The most exquisite paradox…as soon as you give it all up, you can have it all"

-- Baba Ram Dass (1931 - )

“You are not going to get it all, you are it all already”(Wayne W. Dyer, You’ll See It When You Believe It, New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers 1989), 127.

“The universe seems to provide abundantly when we are in a state of gratefulness. The less we need to have more, the more we seem to get” from You’ll See It When You Believe It, p. 155 and Wayne W. Dyer.

“I can assure you that once you no longer need the lessons in your life that unpleasant events offer you, you will no longer have these events.” From You’ll See It…Wayne W. Dyer, p. 263.

“It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself."

-- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)

“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”

-- Wayne W. Dyer (1940 - )

"Life is now. There was never a time when your life was not now, nor will there ever be…Nothing ever happened in the past; it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future; it will happen in the Now” 31-32 (Eckhart Tolle, Practicing the Power of NOW, Novato, CA: New World Library 1999), 31-32.

“Poverty consists, not in the decrease of one’s possessions, but in the increase of one’s greed.”-- Plato (427 B. C. – 327 B. C.)

“Charity is never so lovely as when one has lost consciousness that one is practicing charity.”-- Anthony DeMello (1931 - 1987)

“The last suit you wear, you don’t need any pockets.”-- Wayne W. Dyer (1940 - )

Contacting Dr. Steve McSwain,

FOR SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS: Contact Dr. McSwain Directly by Calling 502-777-9426 or EMail: steve@stevemcswain.com or your preferred Speaker's Bureau

FOR PROFESSIONAL COACHING: Contact Dr. McSwain Directly by Calling 502-777-9426 or EMail: steve@stevemcswain.com

FOR CHURCH CONSULTS AND FUNDRAISING COUNSEL: Contact The Foundation for Excellence in Giving, Inc. at www.stevemcswain.com


How to get started

Learn more about Dr. McSwain by visiting his website at www.stevemcswain.com

Other highlights

ENDORSEMENTS on The Enoch Factor: The Sacred Art of Knowing God

"The Enoch Factor is not just another book about God. It is an eloquently written masterpiece filled with deeply profound insights leading us to a more intimate relationship with God. Anyone seeking to fully embrace God and truly be at one with their Creator must read Steve McSwain's book. It contains the key to a Divine life. One of the most beautifully written books I've ever read!"

- Janet Pfeiffer, four time awarding winning author of The Secret Side of Anger

“If you were brought up as I was in a traditional Southern Baptist Church of the forties, and now wonder about some of the things you were taught, this book is for you. If you want a no holds barred assessment of organized religion as it is today, you will find it in the pages of The Enoch Factor.”

- Frank R Hatfield, Retired Public School Administrator

“In reading The Enoch Factor you will be challenged in ways that move you beyond your current understandings of God and church, faith and life. For those like me who have spent their life in the church this read will be at times infuriating and perplexing as truths we have held for a life time are critiqued and challenged. Stay with The Enoch Factor, don't be afraid to ask the hard questions, and, in the end, you may well find yourself at a very different place and just perhaps a very different person.”

- Scott McKenzie, Sr. Vice President, Horizons

"The Enoch factor is confrontational, challenging, and even radical...just like any worthwhile spiritual experience. Dr. McSwain challenges his readers' pre-conceived notions about modern religion, often throwing our Western belief structure under the harsh light of honest appraisal. He drags the waters to get at the actual core of our beliefs, to find us guilty of losing touch with God and giving into ego and personal gain. He doesn't do this angrily though, he does it as someone who has, after living and working under God his whole life, truly achieved enlightenment in the western world (no small feat), and shows genuine conce for the spiritual fates of all who subscribe to modern Christianity. This book sits at the bleeding edge of modern religious thought, and is necessary for anyone who seeks a better relationship with themselves and their God."

- Ryan H. Warnberg, Producer, Sony Records

“With the very first sentence Steve McSwain captured my own thoughts and spirit. From there I journeyed page by page with him through his own spiritual experience that so entirely connects with many of our own it felt as if the words on the page could have been mine. Woven from his own personal journey, Steve confronts each of us with our deepest desire. The Enoch Factor plumbs the depth of our hunger to know God, not just know about God, and gives us the hope and the peace that we, like Enoch, can know God and can walk with God. This book is written with courage, wisdom, faith, and the deep, abiding passion of a Christ-follower who has enriched and blessed both my life and my faith.”

- Tommy Valentine, Lexington Avenue Church, Danville, KY

ENDORSEMENTS on THE GIVING MYTHS: Giving then Getting the Life You've always Wanted

"Dr McSwain brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to the topic of giving, an excellent job of melding biblical principles of giving with practical application."Curt C. Farmer, Senior Vice President Wachovia Bank Wealth Management Director, North Carolina

“This book bravely challenges both professional religious leaders and laypersons to do what Jesus commanded, and give themselves and everything they have to Him. This wonderful book is readable, full of real-life examples, and should be gladly welcomed in all Christian communions.”Robert L. Cargill, LL.D., CFRE, Chairman Cargill Associates, Inc., Texas

“Dr. McSwain has garnered more than three decades of experience to write a timely and practical book, a ‘must read’. Dr. McSwain’s writing style is enjoyable and his applied principles Biblically sound and practically astute.”Dr. Gil McKee, Senior Minister, First Church, Alabama

"Quite simply, Steve McSwain is a miracle worker. Not only does he have that rare gift of inspiring others to be more generous than they dreamed possible, but he gives others the satisfying sense of belonging deeply to God and God's plans. The biblical spirituality from which he derives his convictions and insights makes him one of the most qualified guides to churches today."Fr. Jerome P. Kaywell, Pastor Sacred Heart Church, Florida

“Steve’s passion for this topic is unsurpassed. He rightly understands that the effectiveness of the Christian church is tightly bound to the proper understanding and practice of financial stewardship. I pray that God will use this book to open many hearts, minds and wallets so that God’s work may prosper in ways that we can only imagine now.”David Bowersox, Business Manager, Upper Arlington Church, Ohio

“While not for the faint of heart, those who follow these practical guidelines…will be blessed beyond their imaginings. Dr. McSwain’s discussion of the divinely-designed flow of the universe is brilliant and right on target…A great read and one that might just change your life.”Kristine Miller, Director of Planned Giving, The Episcopal Diocese of Michigan

“Steve McSwain effectively debunks the myths that pervade our materialistic culture and reveals the true joy found in generous giving. You will benefit from reading this book.”Paul L. Larsen, Senior Minister, Christ the King Church, Minnesota

“Kudos to Dr. McSwain for having the courage to write this timely and much needed book. Every person who is serious about finding enrichment and fulfillment in their remaining years will want to read this book.”Dr. C. E. Jackson, III, Senior Minister, First Church, Tennessee

"Dr. McSwain is a gifted leader in helping people see how material resources can make the giver's life worth living." Dr. Roger Rominger, Senior Minister, First Church, Illinois

"A challenging, insightful and enlightening read, from an experienced leader calling others to reflect upon their giving patterns."Fr. John Auer, St. Paul Church, Colorado.

“Dr. McSwain is the original "mythbuster." He understands the church. He understands finances and stewardship. The beauty of this book is Steve's ability to bring the two together in a way that’s non-threatening and understandable. This book is a must read.”Dr. Glen S. Martin, Senior Minister, Journey of Faith Church, California

“One of the most difficult tasks in life is to 'walk the walk and talk the talk.' Steve McSwain has done both. The words that are crafted in the pages of this book reflect a journey of experiences in which McSwain offers witness to the deep joy he has found in giving. His faith and experience in giving offer rich lessons for us all.”Rev. Dr. Susan A. Patterson-Sumwalt, Senior Minister, United Church, Wisconsin

"…a book I wish all of my church members would read. I loved the book. It will help people no matter how spiritually mature they are." Dr. Ron Churchill, Senior Minister, First Church, Florida

"Steve McSwain has provided a definition of life that challenges the most ostentatious aspects of our culture. This is an invitation to everyone to experience the fullness of life and faith through giving, a compelling read both critical and affirming at the same time."Dr. Larry R. Hayward, Senior Minister, Westminster Church, Virginia

“Dr. McSwain provides powerful and practical tools that will lead to personal and corporate financial transformation. Through wonderful insight and real stories, the reader is led to the joys experienced in true spiritual generosity. Dr. McSwain’s personal transparency is especially gripping and instructive, as he models his message.”Rev. Greg McGarvey, Senior Minister, Carmel Church, Indiana

"The connection between the will of God and the heart of people in the area of giving is vital. McSwain knows this and helps us see it exceptionally well. Lots of people tell me 'you have to read this or that book.' I'm glad I read this one." Dr. Paul Ulring, Senior Minister, Upper Arlington Church, Ohio