Deep Roots of Faith: Dr. Matthew Sleeth

A dozen years ago, Dr. Matthew Sleeth was at the peak of his career, an ER physician and chief of staff of his hospital. He and his wife, Nancy, had all the things in life that were supposed to make you happy—two adorable children, jobs they enjoyed, and a beautiful house on the coast of Maine–but they had no faith community and did not believe in God.

One slow Sunday morning in the ER, Matthew went out in the patient waiting area to look for something to read.  He saw an orange book. It was a bible.  He had never read a bible before and thought it might be interesting.  So he stole it.

One by one, the family all read the bible and became believers, and worked on bringing their lives more in line with the teachings of Jesus, getting rid of more than half of their possessions and moving to a house the exact size of their old garage.  Some of the greatest transformation grew out of keeping a weekly Sabbath together, a day of holy rest and renewal.  Along the way, the family found that the more they “gave up,” the richer and more meaningful their lives became.

In 2008, he founded Blessed Earth to teach at churches, schools, and retreats around the country. Blessed Earth is based in Lexington, Kentucky, where the Sleeths live near their grown children, Clark and Emma, who serve with their spouses in missions and ministry.

On this episode, we discuss Dr. Sleeth’s new book, Reforesting Faith: What Trees Can Teach Us About the Love of God.