 This interview kicked our tails.
Do you know what to do when you encounter someone who is experiencing homelessness? We thought we did ... sort of? Give them a few bucks? Offer a pack of things you have ready in your car? Pray with them? Terence Lester, activist, speaker, and author of I See You: How Love Opens Our Eyes to Invisible People, helps us practically navigate how we can better see people experiencing poverty and homelessness and thereby learn a lesson on how we can really see everyone. Highlights: "We are all poor in some way. When we understand that (when we understand what God has done for us) it creates a bridge that we can walk over and show our brother and sister, who may be living on the street and experiencing hardship, the same type of love that we would want and have received from our God." --Terence Lester "The best phrases in the New Testament are 'Jesus saw.' Not only did He see people, but He became proximate to them. What will radically change our understanding and even our misconceptions about people is acknowledging them and getting proximate." --Terence Lester "Presence can trump money." --Terence Lester Listen: iTunes Link SoundCloud Link GooglePlay Link Stitcher Link Do the Next Thing:
Question of the Week for Next Week: What was your favorite school lunch? (Either packed or the hot lunch variety?) Email podcast@himhministries.com, comment here, or find Laurie Krieg on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to answer.
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 Friends. We need them. They can also be a big challenge. It can be hard to put them in their proper, healthy place (neither diminishing them nor elevating them)—whether we are married or single.
Today, we primarily look at how to have healthy friendships through the married lens, but single people? We believe and hope and pray you will be blessed, too. Kelly Needham, author of the new book Friendish, helps us explore questions such as, “Can we have covenant friendships outside of marriage?” “What are signs of when friendships are moving into an unhealthy direction?” “Are our spouses supposed to be our best friends?" It's a needed conversation for our lonely world today on the podcast. Highlights: "If a friendship is starting to encroach on our relationship with our spouse or with Christ, that's a warning sign." --Kelly Needham "I don't think the word 'best friend' is wrong, but I don't think that it's right that we build covenants into our friendships ... That does not condemn single people to loneliness or missing out on something huge. If we believe that, then we are admitting that marriage satisfies preeminently in our hearts." --Kelly Needham "Your loneliness is primarily alleviated in Christ ... Loneliness came as a result of sin, not alone-ness." --Kelly Needham Listen: iTunes Link SoundCloud Link GooglePlay Link Stitcher Link Do the Next Thing:
Question of the Week for Next Week: What was your favorite school lunch? (Either packed or the hot lunch variety?) Email podcast@himhministries.com, comment here, or find Laurie Krieg on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to answer.  When Brad Klaver was ten, he watched three men in his church get publicly excommunicated for either experiencing attractions toward the same gender or for being in same-sex relationships.
He made a vow to himself, "I will never share this part of me." Twenty-five years later, married to his wife and dad to four kids, God allowed this now-pastor to go through breakdown so he could experience breakthrough. Join us as we engage Brad's journey with his wife, friends, and church in this final story in our broken/beloved pastor series today. [Also listen in as we get hammered by a rainstorm and get word of a tornado in our area. It made for an exciting recording finish. ;)] Highlights: "I remember exactly where I was watching [the excommunications] unfold. In me there was this internal fear of: 'I don't know where this came from. I don't know why I have this. I don't know where this all began, or what was done to me to make me like this. All I know, based on what I am seeing now is ... this is what happens if people find out. You admit it, and you are shown the door.' ... I said to myself... 'I will never tell anyone. Ever.' That commitment was kept for 25 years." --Brad Klaver "The pages with the verses pertaining to homosexuality and marriage are the most well-worn pages in my childhood Bible. I begged God to either fix me or switch me or end me. None of that was happening, and so I took matters into my own hands and learned the art of religion." --Brad Klaver "The reality was not that I had done something--a moral failure or something that disqualifies me from serving in the church--the reality was that this journey that God was taking me on completely wiped me out." --Brad Klaver Listen: iTunes Link SoundCloud Link GooglePlay Link Stitcher Link Do the Next Thing:
Question of the Week for Next Week: What drew you to your first friend(s) as a kid? (A game? Proximity? Mutual likes for something?)Email podcast@himhministries.com, comment here, or find Laurie Krieg on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to answer.  It's week two of our Broken/Beloved Pastor mini-series, where we try to break down stereotypes and halt the gossip train when it comes to pastors who leave their positions for various reasons.
Today, we dive into the painful and gorgeous story of Johnny and Amanda McKenna. The middle of their journey includes him almost killing himself to hide his double life of affairs, pornography addiction, and alcoholism--while serving as a pastor. But there is a beginning and new ending to this story. Come and hear pieces of the whole broken and beloved journey with us today. Highlights: "I constantly felt like I didn't measure up. Pornography was an escape from that feeling for me. 'Finally, I don't have to feel that just for that moment.' But after that moment is over . . . now I'm right where I started, and in an even worse spot." --Johnny McKenna "We could not have sex for two years of our marriage. I was so ashamed. I didn't know what was wrong with me what was wrong with my body. I didn't understand it. It's so hard and embarrassing to talk about with people . . . I felt so helpless." --Amanda McKenna "All this is going on and I'm saying to myself ... 'You're such a scumbag ... It's time to take my life ... I'll be gone, but my legacy will be in tact. I won't be this pastor that is another Hall of Shame member. I won't have to tell my boys that I failed them--that I cheated on their mom. I won't have to tell my youth group kids and leaders. I can at least provide for them financially. They'll be in a better place because I have life insurance.' I thought that was the best case scenario. Those were the lies Satan was whispering in my ear." --Johnny Mckenna "One of the things [my friend] said was, 'Amanda, God is saving your husband right now.' It shocked me. 'What do you mean He's saving us? It feels like He's killing us.' But then that meaning sunk in: Johnny was living bound and held captive by his sin. But now, God was in the process of saving him. ...That's really beautiful if you think about it: God steps into the mess and he fights for you." --Amanda McKenna Listen: iTunes Link SoundCloud Link GooglePlay Link Stitcher Link Do the Next Thing:
Question of the Week for Next Week: If I walked into your house/apartment/room what are three things I would see that describe who you are as a person? Email podcast@himhministries.com, comment here, or find Laurie Krieg on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to answer.  Too often, we hear stories of pastors who have left their pastoral vocation for a myriad of reasons, and we (the church body) are left guessing about why.
This empty void of information can lead to gossip on our part and subsequent pain for the pastor and their families because we do not go to them and ask questions--we just guess. Today, we are launching a mini-series where we hear the before/during/and after of the why these pastors left their posts. We want to focus on the redemption, the why, and the seeing of pastors as fellow broken/beloved image-bearers instead of automatically assuming the worst. We launch the series with our friend, Ben, and his wife, Lauren. Ben wrestles with gender dysphoria (a feeling of disconnect between one's biological sex and their gender identity), and served as a pastor until he felt called by God to be authentic with his wrestling. What happened next? What does gender dysphoria feel like? How does it impact a marriage and a pastor? Join us at the podcast table to hear more. Highlights: "I very much tried to control the image of how people saw me. But . . . when people know me they can choose to love me and not some facsimile." --Ben Schulke "I got to this place where I said, 'I would rather be obedient to God than preserve something temporary--like my job.'"--Ben Schulke "Ben's identity is not gender dysphoria. His identity is not whatever other sin or brokenness he is dealing with. That's not who he is. He is a son of God, and he is loved by Him." --Lauren Schulke Listen: iTunes Link SoundCloud Link GooglePlay Link Stitcher Link Do the Next Thing:
Question of the Week for Next Week: What is the hardest thing for you to pick up from the floor that kids drop? (Glitter, stickers, beads, coins, slime?) Email podcast@himhministries.com, comment here, or find Laurie Krieg on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to answer.  This episode surprisingly convicted us because, well, we don't think much about food.
But, good grief, what we miss out on when we see food as a way to shovel nutrients (or happiness) in as opposed to a way to know God more deeply. Food Network star, Melissa d'Arabian, invites us to the table with our creative, creator-of-food God. Through her vulnerable story and experience in the food entertainment industry, Melissa teaches us how to know Him more through eating. This is a sweet one. Highlights: "God could have created a nutrition-delivery system that was far less delicious and far more efficient that didn't require us to stop, sit, eat, prepare, and grow. But He didn't." --Melissa d'Arabian "Food has a way of saying, 'I see you.'" --Melissa d'Arabian Listen: iTunes Link SoundCloud Link GooglePlay Link Stitcher Link Do the Next Thing:
Question of the Week for Next Week: What is your favorite word? Email podcast@himhministries.com, comment here, or find Laurie Krieg on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to answer.  The Church is precious. It's Christ's beloved and broken bride.
But sex and sexuality conversations have notoriously challenged us for the last ... thousands of years. New York Times bestselling author, Mo Isom, helps guide us through some of these conversations we have forgotten, and does it with storytelling and great passion. (She takes us to church!) Grab a pew, and join us. Highlights: "A lot of my issues grew out of the fact that my family thought the church was talking to me about the hard stuff, and the church thought my family was talking about the hard stuff. So really, no one was talking to me about the hard stuff. Therefore, the world ... was teaching me." --Mo Isom "Nothing you bring to the foot of the cross is going to knock God off of His throne." --Mo Isom Listen: iTunes Link SoundCloud Link GooglePlay Link Stitcher Link Do the Next Thing:
Question of the Week for Next Week: If you had to be stuck inside of a TV show for the rest of your life, which show and what character would you be? Email podcast@himhministries.com, comment here, or find Laurie Krieg on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to answer.  Touch can be ... a touchy subject.
Some of us can overemphasize it and others can shun it. When Laurie recently said to Matt, "I wish I could live in a touch-free world," she realized just how touchy (and painful) non-sexual physical touch can be. Instead of bury it, in classic Hole in My Heart Podcast fashion, we are bringing the conversation to the table. Matt, Laurie, Steve, and guest, Hayley Mullins, toss around questions ranging from what to do when we idolize touch, to how to carefully speak the "love language" of touch with those been affected by sexual assault. This is another raw and (in our opinion) beautiful one. You are welcome to join us. Highlights: "The way Jesus healed most often was with touch. I have to imagine because we are created bodily, and because our natural reaction when we fall and scrape our knee is to take our hands and put it over that wound, there is something intrinsic to physical touch that when used in a giving way, when used to attend to the needs of the person as opposed to try and take is more pronounced."--Matt Krieg "When I was walking through a season where I was wrestling with, 'How do I use touch appropriately in a way that just loves people? ... How do I practice this ... if it is causing me problems?' [I needed to find] the ways to show the Father' s love with touch in a way that is welcoming--in a way that draws them in as opposed to pulls them to yourself because of you. Instead, it welcomes in so that they can see Jesus more clearly." --Hayley Mullins Listen: iTunes Link SoundCloud Link GooglePlay Link Stitcher Link Do the Next Thing:
Question of the Week for Next Week: What was your favorite childhood toy? Email podcast@himhministries.com, comment here, or find Laurie Krieg on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to answer. How many of us have fought (and do fight) with heart-pumping, air-constricting anxiety?
How can we practically do battle with it? Bestselling author and popular speaker, Rebekah Lyons, helps us put on our boxing gloves to practically combat it. Highlights: "We don't know freedom until we know bondage. So let's acknowledge we are so hungry for God's rescue, and let's ask Him to do a mighty work." --Rebekah Lyons "I questioned, 'Am I a fraud?' I thought there was a healing that happened, and I was loud about it. And yet I found myself in a place of frailty and desperation again." --Rebekah Lyons Listen: iTunes Link SoundCloud Link GooglePlay Link Stitcher Link Do the Next Thing:
Question of the Week for next week: What is your favorite smell? Is there a memory that goes along with it? Email podcast@himhministries.com, comment here, or find Laurie Krieg on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter to answer. There is intense pain in the world and in our hearts--based on national or personal tragedy.
We may be quick to jump to anger, to text someone, to Twitter, to do something. These actions may not be wrong, but they can be wrong-hearted if we skip an important step: going to the Father with lament that leads to forgiveness and eventual love for our enemies. It feels impossible--really, truly loving our enemies--but as believers we are called to do the impossible with the One who empowers us. But how in the world can we do this lament that leads to forgiveness that leads to genuine love for our enemies? We get as practical as we can in this episode, breaking down how we lament in real life, and even give you a bonus episode where Matt leads us like a midwife to birth these laments today. :) Listen: iTunes Link SoundCloud Link GooglePlay Link Stitcher Link Bonus Episode: SoundCloud Link Highlights: "I picture the cross of Christ, but I don't put the person ... on the cross ... He deserves it. So do I." --Laurie Krieg "If there is anything that you could get out of this, yes, lament and understand what it is. But, understand that the God we go to is a God who wants all of us. Not just the joy, not just the sad, not just the stoic, not just the put-together, and not just the broken. All of it." --Matt Krieg Here are some of the things we talked about in the episode: |
//About the Author
Laurie Krieg is broken, beloved, and gospel-addicted. Read more about her here.
//Recent PostsEpisode 103: When to Walk Away
12.6.19 Is it sinful to walk away from toxic people or biblical? Guest: Gary Thomas Episode 102: Ministry Update and Q & A 11.26.19 Lots of changes coming! Let's dig deeper. Guests: Matt and Laurie Episode 101: Exchanging Our Dreams for God's Desires 11.22.19 How much of our dreams are selfish and how much of them are from God? Guest: Lauren Chandler Episode 100: How to Hear God 11.15.19 It gets misused. Does that mean we shouldn't try? How can we hear God responsibly? Guest: Jim Samra Episode 99: A Gender Conversation Part 2 11.8.19 Heather fully transitioned to male and then detransitioned. Why? How? This is not one to miss. Guest: Heather Skriba How Do Your Kids View God When They Look at Your Marriage? 11.4.19 Our kids' first image of God comes through how we relate. What do they see? Episode 98: Talking Sexuality with Our Kids We get questions about this all the time. "Where is 'the book' on this?" Guest: Dannah Gresh Episode 97: The Heart of Racial Reconciliation Get below skin deep and look heart-to-heart. Guest: Kinita Schripsema If We Want to Do Something...Hold Up a Mirror to Our Marriages 10.24.19 Culture is shifting quickly. What is a simple but challenging way we can respond today? Episode 96: Healthy Community (and Touch) as a Single Person How can single people engage community and friendship uniquely and in healthy ways? Guest: Meg Baatz Episode 95: How We Can See Everyone A speaker, activist, and author practically walks us through how we can engage those who are experiencing homelessness. Guest: Terence Lester Episode 94: Marriage and Friendship: How to Do Both Well Navigating healthy friendships within marriage situation is not easy. How can we do better? Guest: Kelly Needham Episode 93: Broken/Beloved Pastors Part 3 with Brad Klaver 9.27.19 He watched three men get excommunicated for their attractions. He vowed he would never share his own. Twenty-five years later, God allowed breakdown lead to breakthrough. Guest: Brad Klaver Episode 92: Broken/Beloved Pastors Part 2 with Johnny and Amanda McKenna 9.20.19 The middle of their story included affairs, pornography addiction, and alcoholism--while serving as a pastor. But that's not the beginning or the end of it. Guests: Johnny and Amanda McKenna Episode 91: Broken/Beloved Pastors Part 1 with Ben and Lauren Schulke 9.13.19 Ben wrestled with gender dysphoria as a pastor. What happened with he chose authenticity over his job? Guests: Ben and Lauren Schulke Episode 90: The Gospel and Food 9.6.19 Food Network star, Melissa d'Arabian sits us down at the table and opens her heart alongside the Word. Guest: Melissa d'Arabian Episode 89: Sex, Jesus, and the Conversations the Church Forgot 8.30.19 NYT bestselling author, Mo Isom, helps crack open the church doors further in the sexuality conversation. Guest: Mo Isom Episode 88: The Gift of Touch? 8.23.19 Some of us idolize it. Some of us shun it. How do we engage non-sexual, physical touch in a healthy way? Guest: Hayley Mullins Episode 87: How to Do Battle with Anxiety 8.16.19 Rebekah Lyons helps us unpack practical ways to put on our fear-fighting boxing gloves. Guest: Rebekah Lyons BONUS: Safe Place Prayer with Matt 8.9.19 Therapist Matt leads us through a way we can pray that helps us envision the God who Sees us and prepares us to lament. Episode 86: Before We Jump to Activism 8.9.19 There is pain in our world and pain in our hearts. We often skip a step that is absolutely necessary before we DO something to right the wrong. Guest: The Crew BONUS: Jack Haveman's Story 8.7.19 When Laurie was being interviewed about caring for LGBT+ people, the station manager was prompted by God to share his personal and powerful story. Episode 85: Our Favorites and Yours 5.31.19 Listen back to some favorite clips and moments with us from Season Two. Guests: The Crew Episode 84: Leading a Church in a Time of Sexual Questioning 5.24.19 We don't think it's possible to talk about this too much right now. Let's get once again get practical for the church. Guest: Bruce B. Miller Episode 83: Sexuality and Shame 5.17.19 So many people have encountered sexual trauma. What is a pathway to engaging the storm of it? Guest: Dan Allender Episode 82: How to Lament 5.10.19 We are learning it is an important spiritual discipline, but how do we lament, exactly? Are there rules--or at least guidelines? Guest: Mark Vroegop 5 Tools Parents Can Use to Build Relationships with Their LGBT+ Kids 5.4.19 There are a few common practices parents can engage while walking alongside their kids. By: Laurie Krieg Episode 81: Living an Authentic Life 5.3.19 How and why do we need to get real--publicly? Guest: Ann Voskamp Bonus Episode: Book Announcement!!! 4.26.19 Matt and Laurie are writing a book together about their "impossible" marriage. Episode 80: Fill These Hearts 4.26.19 Everything we do--good, bad, neutral--points to our hunger for heaven. Let's unpack how. Guest: Christopher West Episode 79: Dear Evangelical Pastor 4.19.19 Conversion therapy didn't work for this retired Air Force fighter pilot and ministry leader. He wasn't about to pass it into others. Here is his word for the church. Guest: Mike Rosebush Episode 78: Q & D #1: Purpose, Church Angst, and Your Questions 4.12.19 It's our first Question & Discussion! We dive back into purpose, pain with the Church, and what we are looking forward to Guests: Matt, Laurie, and Producer Steve Episode 77: The Need for Purpose 4.5.19 We all got it: This need for worth. Why do we often find our purpose in following the marriage script? How can we break that idol? Guest: Kutter Callaway Episode 76: The Need to Be Unique 3.29.19 We both need to belong and yet be unique. How does a family balance that out with their adoptive family and foster kids? Guests: Brett and Janelle Beimers Bonus Episode: Facing the Unthinkable The "Why's" and "How To's" of Lament 2.15.19 Laurie Krieg breaks it down in a talk she gave in Madison, WI Episode 75: The Need to Be Safe 3.22.19 Many of us (all of us?) wrestle with anxiety/fear at some level. How can knowing God's character and the practice of lament help us work through our fear? Guest: Michael Card Episode 74: The Need to Be Seen 3.15.19 Two pastors: One who identifies as gay, and the other was his senior pastor and boss. How do they navigate the conversation? Guests: Jeff Maness and John Wilson Episode 73: The Need to Be Included 3.8.19 Traveling. Porn. Lots of relationships. Viral videos. Nothing seems to cut the loneliness problem. What can? Guest: Ethan Renoe Episode 72: The Need to Be Loved 3.1.19 All we need is love, but how can we experience it--in real life? Guest: Jennifer Kennedy Dean Episode 71: The Need for Rest 2.22.19 In 2019, being busier seems to equal being a better person. Is it possible to both get things done but do it with a restful spirit? Guest: Adam Mabry Episode 70: The Need to Be Affirmed 2.15.19 God gives us messages. How do we share them without elevating our own egos? Guest: Shannon Popkin Episode 69: The Need to Be Desired 2.8.19 A mixed-orientation marriage couple talks about the need to be desired and how it relates to their relationship. Guests: Ty and Rachel Wyss Episode 68: The Need for Nurture 2.1.19 If the need to be nurtured is to be cared for or held, how do we invite people to meet the need but not demand it? Guests: Anna Carter and Shannon Ochoa Episode 67: Holy Sexuality and the Gospel 1.25.19 Let's explore identity language, God's gender fluidity (?) and how to navigate friendships in the church. Guest: Christopher Yuan Episode 66: 7 Essential Failures of a Faithful Life 1.18.19 Failure doesn't feel good, but can it be good? Guest: Chad Bird Episode 65: Exploring Our Souls of Shame Part 2 1.11.19 How did shame begin and how can we combat it? Guest: Dr. Curt Thompson Episode 64: Exploring Our Souls of Shame Part 1 1.4.19 The vague feeling of "something is wrong with me" that you or a friend may carry? It has a name. Let's address it. Guest: Dr. Curt Thompson The Heart of Temptation 12.26.18 How do friendship, marriage, and temptation work together? Let's dig in. Episode 63.5: Merry Christmas/Happy New Year! 12.26.18 We look back, we look forward, and we shed a couple tears between the laughs. Because, of course we do. :) Episode 63: Jump Starting Spiritual Disciplines 12.21.18 Are spiritual disciplines only for the "hyper-spiritual"? How can we engage them without feeling like we have to climb a mountain? Guest: Sharon Garlough Brown Episode 62: Let's Admit It: We're All Addicts 12.14.18 Addiction affects everyone--but how can we understand it better and actually get some steps toward freedom? Guest: Dr. Gregory Jantz Episode 61: Keeping the Kids Safe 12.7.18 How can we talk about prevention of childhood sexual abuse in a not-shamey way? The authors of "God Made All of Me" help us out. Guests: Justin and Lindsey Holcomb Don't Miss the Miracle 12.5.18 We are in an age of self-care, but do we ever raise the "self-care" flag when we what we are really doing is giving up? Episode 60: Walking Well as Pastors, Parents, and Therapists 11.30.18 We are honing into three groups of people to equip them to walk well alongside LGBT+ people. Guest: Dr. Mark Yarhouse Episode 59.5: Happy T-Day 2k18 Style 11.19.18 We are thankful for ya--and for Alton Brown's turkeys (bless him). Guest: The regulars Episode 59: A Tiny [Living] Act of Obedience 11.16.18 What do six people and 350-square-feet of living space have to do with obedience and identity? This episode. Guest: Ashley Auerbach Episode 58: If Looks Could Heal 11.9.18 Clothing matters. Why? And how can we dress to express who God made us to be? Guest: Kelli O'Dell Episode 57: The "Whys" Behind Pornography Addiction 11.2.18 An honest look at our stories can give us clues to why we do what we do. Guest: Jay Stringer Episode 56: Seven Ways to Navigate a Sexually Shifting Culture 10.26.18 Sam Allberry gets practical and big picture in this extremely helpful cultural look. Guest: Sam Allberry Episode 55: Purity Movement or Sexual Integrity? 10.19.18 In the 90s, there was a large focus on "just saying 'no' to sex before marriage." How did that help and hurt? Guest: Jason Soucinek Episode 54: Family Dinner 10.12.18 We have a weekly dinner with people looking for family-like community. How does that work? Guest: Angela Bowles 18 Things to Do When Getting Real 10.9.18 How can you be vulnerable without getting your heart shredded? Episode 53: Saying "Yes" 10.5.18 It doesn't take a special Christian to say "yes" to Jesus--just an obedient one. Guests: Tom and Dana Mollhagen Three Primary Barriers Between LGBT+ People and the Church 9.28.18 What makes this conversation unlike others? Episode 52: Good Faith Takes Good Courage 9.28.18 Culture believes Christians are extreme and irrelevant. How can we be courageous and loving? Guest: Gabe Lyons Episode 51: Radically Normal 9.21.18 How do we get off of the treadmill of obsessive Christianity and the couch of complacent Christianity? Guest: Josh Kelley Episode 50: Gay Girl, Good God, and Good Marriage 9.14.18 Author, speaker, and poet Jackie Hill Perry cracks open the door of her story and the daily decision to surrender and follow Christ. Guest: Jackie Hill Perry Episode 49: The Awkward Middle 9.6.18 How can we navigate conversations with people with whom we disagree on major issues? Someone who understands both "sides" of one of these conversations helps us navigate this space. Guest: David Bennett Episode 48: How We Heal Part 3 8.31.18 What are some practical ways married people can lean into healing when in a tough spot? Laurie and Matt get real. Episode 47: Spiritual Friendships 8.24.18 What are spiritual friendships? And what is emotional chastity? Guest: Wesley Hill Episode 46: When Your Kid Comes Out 8.17.18 How did Laurie's dad respond to Laurie when she came out? Guest: Randy Hekman Episode 45: At the Intersection of Friendship and Loneliness 8.10.18 How can we make real friends? Guest: Bridget Eileen Episode 44: Jealous of Your Suffering 8.3.18 Let's talk about suffering well. Guest: Daniel Mattson Episode 43.5: H.A.G.S. (Have a great summer) 7.2.18 Let's consider the impact of season one on our own lives, and look toward the future! Episode 43: Getting Campy 6.29.18 How can we love our LGBT+ campers like Jesus? Guest: Susan Titus Episode 42: The Codependency Complication 6.22.18 What are signs of codependency or unhealthy relationships? Guest: Kelly Needham Episode 41: A Gender Conversation 6.14.18 Two stories: One of a child with gender dysphoria. One of a parent to a son with gender dysphoria. Guests: Kat LaPrairie and Kathi Bush Episode 40: The Thing About Temptation 6.8.18 Let's hear an amazing story of God's faithfulness both when we wandered in the past, and when we wander today. Guest: Rachel Gilson Episode 39: Envy, Pride, and Leadership 5.30.18 Envy. The struggle is real. Let's get real with it. Guest: Adam Barr Episode 38: Gender and Jesus 5.25.18 Are there only two genders? What does the Bible say about sex and gender? Guest: Preston Sprinkle Episode 37: The Gospel Comes with a House Key 5.18.18 Let's open the doors of our homes. No doily required. Guest: Rosaria Butterfield What Are We Saying "Yes" To? 5.7.18 Let's not be sin Nazis, rather oneness champions. Episode 36: 20-Somethings and Discipleship 5.4.18 How can we stay connected in our 20s? Guest: Drew Boa Let's Journey Well 5.1.18 We are offering some practical steps for you to lean into the LGBT+ conversation like Jesus. Want to join us? Episode 35: How We Heal Part 2 4.28.18 Authenticity and intimacy--how do they relate to healing? Episode 34: How We Heal 4.23.18 How has the Krieg marriage been healing this last year? It's a real-life update. Episode 33: Sexual Discipleship 4.13.18 We are all sexually discipled. The question is not "if we are" but 'by whom'? Let's talk about how we, the Church, can sexually disciple better. Episode 32: Guiding Families 4.8.18 How can parents and leaders of LGBT+ people love them like Jesus? Guest: Bill Henson Are We in Love with Our Baristas? 4.3.18 What's the heart of attraction toward someone? Episode 31: How to Talk with the Kids 3.30.18 We have to talk with our kids about sex and sexuality, but how do we do it biblically? Guest: Branson Parler Episode 30: Women Struggle with Lust, Too 3.23.18 They do. (We do.) Quite a bit. Why are we so under-resourced and under-discussed? Guest: Amy Riordan Episode 29: It Takes a Village 3.18.18 How can youth pastors walk alongside LGBT+ youth well? Guest: Ray Low Changing Theology, Not Orientation 3.16.18 One student's journey with her faith and sexuality Guest: Katie Melone Focus on Which Family? 3.7.18 How can we relate as a biblical family--single or married? Guest: Dr. Branson Parler Podcast Episode 27: What's Really Best for the Kids? 3.2.18 How can we disciple our kids without hurting their hearts? Podcast Episode 26: Marriage: What Is It Good For? 2.23.18 The team draws timely connections between marriage, singleness, LGBT+ people, and the Church. Guest: Branson Parler The Day I Became Wonder Woman 2.23.18 Can God heal painful memories? Yeah. Podcast Episode 25: Friends in Low Places 2.16.18 How can you be a helpful friend to someone in pain? How can you be a helpful person in pain to your friends? Let's talk about it. Guest: Tammy Perlmutter The Three Spiritual Identities 2.11.18 Performance? Grace? Or Love? Where do you live? Podcast Episode 24: Is There Hope for Us? 2.7.18 On our nine-year anniversary, we ask that question. Podcast Episode 23: Don't Waste Your Marriage 2.2.18 How can we not waste it? Get on mission. The Secret Rooms of Our Hearts 1.23.18 How can we connect our hearts in the midst of processing trauma? Podcast Episode 22: Learn to Fight Well 1.19.18 Hint: Fighting well is not about fighting well, but about looking like Jesus. Chronic Soul Pain 1.19.18 Do you suffer from chronic pain of the soul? We all do. Let's stop pretending we don't--in community. Podcast Episode 21: Pursue the Perfect Marriage 1.13.18 What does perfection in marriage look like? Podcast Episode 20: Marriage Is Not That Great 1.6.17 Is there a different set of rules for marriages like ours? What Do You Want? 12.31.17 Laurie was due for a spiritual and marital audit, and she found herself before a holy God. Podcast Episode 19: I'm Coming Out 12.22.17 What was it like to come out to a friend for the first time? Laurie and that friend talk about it. Podcast Episode 18: The Loneliness of Leadership 12.15.17 Is loneliness a "required course" for leadership as Elisabeth Elliot said? Let's talk about it. Times They are Changin' 12.15.17 Matt is moving on to other things--but he's still here. (We explain.) Podcast Episode 17: The James Progression 12.7.17 How about we talk about a shame-free version of avoiding temptation? Podcast Episode 16: Concern and Hope for the Church 12.1.17 What is a gift we can receive in the midst of all the polarity we see today? Guest: Dr. Matthew Tuininga Podcast Episode 15: The New Health and Wealth Gospel 11.16.17 Does God want us to be happy? Guest: Gregory Coles Podcast Episode 14: Idolatry of Sex 11.11.17 How can we, the Church, look more like the Church? We need to look at what we worship. Podcast Episode 13: Marriage Matters 11.3.17 How can we cultivate intimacy in the tough seasons? Podcast Episode 12: Heart to Heart Prayer with Carolyn 10.27.17 Hear the heart of Laurie's longtime counselor, mentor, and friend. Chicken Love {A Guest Post From My Sister} 10.26.17 Like chickens, we can peck at each other, but we often just peck at ourselves. Podcast Episode 11: Forgiveness Is the Worst Best, Too 10.21.17 How do we truly forgive someone...in real life? Podcast Episode 10: Lament Is the Worst Best 10.13.17 Why do we got to feel the sad stuff of life? Against you, and you alone 10.11.17 We need something more convicting than the pain of a person. Podcast Episode 9: Pillar Practices 10.6.17 Pastor Marvin Williams joins us to share what keeps him tethered to Christ. Podcast Episode 8: Pillar People 9.29.17 Pastor David Beelen shares the critical people and practices in his life that have and do shape him to look and sound more like Jesus. Podcast Episode 7: Holy Hate? 9.21.17 Is there a time for Holy Hatred? Why I can't hate people anymore 9.5.17 Looking into her enemies' hearts won't let Laurie hate them anymore. Our friend, Greg Coles, on suffering well 8.25.17 Greg is leading worship at Caring Well. Here are some stellar pages from his book. Why I am so excited 8.21.17 The Caring Well conference is coming. I'm stoked. Here's why. So long, Shame 8.11.17 Shame snuck up on Laurie again. Three guest posts for Lies Young Women Believe 7.7.17 To the Girl Wrestling with her Sexuality, Who is Safe to Tell?, What do to with Painful Rejection Orlando reflections 6.27.17 Matt was finally able to name why he loved being with LGBT+/SSA Christians. Why Christians can care about LGBT+ people 5.22.17 Because...Jesus. What the world (my world) needs now is little, honest laments 5.9.17 We got to get the pain out. How can we really love people? 3.29.17 It takes experiencing love. Pillar People 3.22.17 Who are the critical characters in our lives? What I've learned after eight years in my mixed-orientation marriage 2.6.17 Are we really so different from other marriages? Addiction, worry, and worship are interchangeable 1.18.17 We are made for addiction. 5 reasons I'm glad I said "see ya" to my smartphone 12.29.16 It was keeping Laurie from feeling. That's not okay for someone in "the biz" of healing. My regift to you 12.21.16 Angela, Laurie's sister, shares hard three memories re-written. Two days after... 11.20.16 Perhaps there is something (someONE) who can unify us all. Now is the time to live like Jesus 11.11.16 This is why I cried about the election, and this is what I believe we can do next. A response to Jen 10.31.16 Rarely, do we get involved in disagreements with fellow Christians about the LGBTQ+ conversation. But, we had to share. There has to be a better way 9.30.16 How should we treat same-sex attracted Christians in the church? How vulnerability heals 9.6.16 Sometimes, doing the thing we want to do the least is the thing that will heal us the most. Inviting Jesus into anxiety 8.26.16 Fear has felt out-of-control after having a baby; inviting Jesus into it (even if he doesn't fix it) helps A new identity 8.11.16 Matt writes about a friend's affairs before and after coming to Christ--and how his identity was affected. Guest Post: Can't I just trust him, already? 7.22.16 Another guest writer reflects honestly on how her lack of trust leads her to fantasy. Guest Post: A reflection on "Living with Longing" 7.14.16 A guest writer reflects on how she practically makes it through the temptation to run from God instead of to him. Living with longing 7.5.16 Sometimes, you just have to endure. A response to Orlando: Don't stop caring 6.16.16. Let's not redraw the lines in the sand. We men need friends, too 6.7.16 Matt talks through how he didn't need a romantic interaction. He needed friendship. No shadow of shame 5.23.16 Laurie again faces the shame she fights. (Also, a word about the "T" in LGBTQ) One year ago... 5.4.16 Laurie reflects on the journey of Matt's pornography addiction recovery over the last year. 10 ways to make your church safer 4.19.16 Hint: It starts with the individual. We apologize for the delay 4.13.16 We are going to take a blogging break as we move our home and office. The benefits of opening locked memories 3.31.16 There are certain memories that seem off limits. But is it worth it to keep them locked up forever? Know self, know God (and vice-versa) 3.15.16 We share an excerpt from The Gift of Being Yourself regarding the relationship between self-knowledge and God-knowledge. I want my daughter to grow up bored 3.10.16 Boredom is...boring. But the neurological and spiritual costs of constant entertainment can be devastating. Not an identity 3.1.16 Laurie guest writes for Cornerstone University about how her struggle is often viewed differently from Matt's. Guest Post: How God saved me and my marriage 2.23.16 A guest writer explains how God rescued her from a life of death. When I am tempted to unforgive 2. 9.16 Laurie describes what she does when she wants to take back her "right" to pay Matt back. The slow descent 1.26.16 Matt compares pornography addiction to hiking down the Grand Canyon. I'd rather not self-reflect, thank you 1.19.16 Matt sampled single fatherhood for a week, and wrestled with avoiding internal reflection in the midst of busyness and boredom. Word for the year (and how it might look) 1.5.16 Laurie doesn't do resolutions anymore. (Too much opportunity for shame.) This year her word is "abide." Don't let me wallow 12.29.15 Is a life with same-sex attractions a doomed life? Don't give up 12.15.15 For all the chronic pain sufferers... //Go to archives |
