Megan Griffith Megan Griffith

Episode 324 - Lessons from The Basement with Tim Ross

How do you begin to experience freedom from the sin that grips you? What does it look like to walk in purpose while still struggling with that which holds you back?

For author, pastor and podcaster, Tim Ross, finding his way towards healing after childhood sexual abuse led to his own patterns of pornography addiction, took some time. Through Jesus and therapy, Tim was able to learn how to get to the root of the bad fruit in his life. It was because of his own journey that he wanted to take others to a place of authenticity and vulnerability in the parts of their lives they often kept hidden. Through his podcast, The Basement, and latest book, Welcome to the Basement: An Upside Down Guide to Greatness, Tim explores how being real with our struggles can help us discover our true identity and experience the greatness God has for us.

In this conversation, Davey chats with Tim about how to mentor people in the way of Jesus, the ways in which our journeys toward freedom may differ, and how God will build purpose into our lives from our pain and struggles.

If you've ever wondered where you can lead with the truth of what you're walking through, this episode will remind you that true greatness can be found when we are willing to go low and be honest about our struggles and hurt.

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Megan Griffith Megan Griffith

Episode 317 - When Your Way Isn't Working with Kyle Idleman

How do you know when your way isn't working? What are the signs that tell you that perhaps you aren't abiding in God and instead relying on your own efforts to get through life?

For pastor and author Kyle Idleman, it took a friend suggesting he see an executive coach before he realized that the indicator light of his life was on and that he needed to make some adjustments. There were so many signs that were suggesting that he was trying to force his way in life and leadership instead of living out of a deep abidance in Christ. It was through his own personal struggle that he wrote, When Your Way Isn’t Working: Finding Purpose and Contentment through Deep Connection with Jesus. In it, he helps others recognize when their way isn't working and how remaining connected to Jesus is the key to a fruitful life.

In this insightful conversation, Davey talks with Kyle about how to follow Jesus' example in beginning our days, what some of the indicators may be that our way isn't working, and how to course correct before reaching a breaking point.

If you find yourself trying to force your way through life and feel anxious, exhausted and disconnected, this episode will help you reconnect with Jesus so that you can live from a place of abiding instead of striving.

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Megan Griffith Megan Griffith

Episode 300 - God Never Gives Up On You with Max Lucado

What if the perpetrator of your pain isn't something on the outside, but your own sinful choices that have led to your suffering? How do we navigate the self-inflicted hurt caused by our own destructive decisions?

Author and Pastor Max Lucado knows the feelings that can come from sinful decisions. In his own life as a young man, he began to see the dangerous trajectory of his choices if he didn't surrender to God's leading. Later as a well-known pastor and author, he would experience a similar reckoning when the weight of leadership became overwhelming and he turned to alcohol to ease the pain. It was through those experiences that Max's heart grew for those who have felt like Jacob in the Bible, wrestling with God and wondering if God had given up on them. In his latest book, God Never Gives Up on You: What Jacob's Story Teaches Us About Grace, Mercy, and God's Relentless Love, Max explores Jacob's story and how it relates to each of ours.

In this honest conversation, Davey talks with Max about how we can truly believe that God doesn't give up on us, how to approach our self-induced pain, and the importance of authenticity in leadership.

If you've ever wondered if God has given up on you after the mess you've made in your life, this episode will serve to remind you that no matter how far you've gone or how long you've wrestled, God's grace, mercy, and love never runs out.

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Megan Griffith Megan Griffith

Episode 267 - Finding the Hope of the Gospel in Miscarriage with Eric Schumacher

How does the hope of the gospel apply in the midst of a miscarriage or season of infertility? Where can we find comfort when our desire for a child isn't being fulfilled?

So often this conversation is focused on the experience women have but silently suffering are the men who too face the grief and pain after pregnancy loss or infertility. Eric Schumacher, pastor and author, walked through several pregnancy losses with his wife and found himself wrestling with shame and sadness. It was his own feelings of sorrow and thinking that he didn't deserve the space to grieve that God used in his writing: Ours: Biblical Comfort for Men Grieving Miscarriage. Suffering can feel like punishment and it was in his own wrestling that Eric began to see how the gospel can meet us so deeply in our pain.

In this conversation, Davey and Eric discuss how gospel hope applies in every pain we endure, what scripture offers us in suffering, and why honesty is so important when we are hurting.

If you've ever wondered how the gospel can meet you in what you're facing, this episode is a reminder that the hope of Christ is available for us all in every circumstance and every type of loss.

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Catherine Fitzgerald Catherine Fitzgerald

Episode 261-Good Boundaries and Goodbyes with Lysa TerKeurst

Boundaries can feel impossible sometimes, especially if you have lived your life without them. How do you begin to draw the line when it comes to what you are willing to accept in a relationship? How do you know when it is beyond the point of healing and time to let go of a toxic relationship?

Author, speaker and Bible teacher Lysa TerKeurst never dreamed that her life would look the way it does now. After finding out about her husband's infidelity, Lysa was committed to healing and restoration of her marriage. But as time went by, Lysa endured the most difficult season of her life and had to face the most difficult decision. Ultimately, her marriage ended and she was left to pick up the pieces. As she has walked the journey of healing, she has begun to see how her own inability to set boundaries contributed to the chaos in her relationship.

In this episode, Lysa talks to Aubrey about how boundaries are not just a good thing but also a God thing, how to determine the amount of access someone should have in our lives and why boundaries can keep the best of who we are front and center.

If you find yourself putting clear boundaries up, especially in relationships that need them most, this conversation will give you the courage to live in a way that will help you and those you love flourish.

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Catherine Fitzgerald Catherine Fitzgerald

Episode 260-Discovering God's Faithfulness in our Knotted-Up Lives with Beth Moore

How can we look at our lives and see God's faithfulness throughout the knots of disappointment, betrayal, criticism or abuse? How can we trust the goodness of God when so much has gone wrong in our lives?

For Bible teacher and author Beth Moore, her life has been a series of knots. From being sexually abused as a child to extreme criticism from those who proclaim Christ, Beth's life has been full of pain to untangle. But with every difficulty, every pain, Beth has seen her desperate need for Jesus even more. It has been through the twists and turns of life that she has come to realize that no person and no set of circumstances can satisfy like the love of Jesus. Openly and honestly, Beth has journeyed this path with the Lord for a lifetime to find that He is worth every step of it.

In this profound conversation, Beth talks with Davey and Aubrey about how the crucible of life can bring about a fountain of deep passion for the Lord, the only way to endure criticism as a leader, and how our crushing can lead to more of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

If you need encouragement from a seasoned believer to finish your race well in the midst of all that you are facing, this episode will give you the strength to keep fighting the good fight of faith.

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Amy Sylvestre Amy Sylvestre

Episode 251-Deciding to Trust God before the Unexpected Comes with Melissa Swain

How do you prepare yourself for loss? What do you do in the days before your world encounters a seismic shift? Can you ever truly be ready to face your greatest pain?

For Melissa Swain, nothing could fully prepare her for the unexpected loss of her husband, Chris, in 2021 but in the days long before such a tragic grief, she had made the decision to trust God no matter what. Just a few years before in 2019, her family faced the unexpected death of her brother, Aaron. In a way, the Lord used that difficult time to prepare her heart for more grief she would walk through as a widow. As Melissa wrestled through the pain of losing her sibling and then her husband, she was faced with more unexpected circumstances when the fate of her husband's almost finished manuscript laid in the hands of his publisher. Was she the one to take his work and bring it across the finish line? She did and the book they completed unexpectedly together called "Write it On Their Hearts: Practical Help for Discipling Your Kids" was not only a way to keep her connected to Chris after his death, but it also served as a means for him to continue to love and parent his children in the days that followed while helping other families as well.

In this candid conversation, Davey talks with Melissa about what it looks like to grieve well, why our pre-decisions about God are so important when it comes to preparing us for pain, and how to wait on God when you aren't sure what is next.

If you've ever wondered how you could prepare your heart for the suffering that inevitably comes this side of heaven, Melissa's hard-won wisdom will encourage you to decide who you think God is before you ever get that phone call that changes everything.

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Amy Sylvestre Amy Sylvestre

Episode 250-Walking through Past Trauma in Marriage with Quinton and Tameca Graham

We all come into marriage with our past hurts and hangups. How do you begin to untangle the knots from your previous life and start to build a new, healthy one together? What do you do when shame seems to overshadow everything within your relationship?

For Quinton and Tameca Graham, it took a lot of open communication and grace from God in order to heal their hearts individually and together in their marriage. Tameca's past of being a teen mom in a single-parent home plus the trauma she endured made it hard to feel worthy for the love of Quinton. Quinton, a pastor who had his own story of heartbreak, wasn't quick to give up and stepped into the difficulties in order to have a thriving marriage.

Together, their own stories plus their one together have become a ministry to other couples struggling to learn how to walk through past trauma into the freedom and joy God has for them. In this conversation, Quinton and Tameca share with Davey how past trauma showed up in their relationship, how they helped each other through their story, and why shame needs to be healed.

This episode is a powerful reminder that our past hurts are opportunities to serve and minister to others in their struggles and through it, we can all better see God's glory unfold.

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Amy Sylvestre Amy Sylvestre

Episode 249-Cultivating an Unoffendable Heart in Ministry with Joanna Weaver

If you've ever served others in ministry, you know how quickly you can go from a thriving, joy-filled season to one in which you become a target for criticism and betrayal. How do you protect your heart when the very people you are serving hurt it? How do you navigate the wounds inflicted upon you by the people of God?

As a pastor's wife, author Joanna Weaver knows all too well how deep the pain can cut from those she has served. Throughout her life-long service in women's ministry and alongside her husband in churches, she has experienced her fair share of hurt that came from people. It can be easy to wall off your heart, move away from relationship and choose to isolate. But, Joanna has found that even in those moments of relational wounding, God has important lessons to teach us in order to shape us more in the image of Christ. As we allow God to reveal parts of ourselves He longs to heal, we can grow in character and strengthen our faith to trust Him in all circumstances.

In this conversation, Davey and Joanna talk about how to handle the relational wounds and betrayals of ministry, how to not waste the pain from it, and why it is so important for leaders to seek healing for their hurt.

You don't have to be a leader in ministry to glean from Joanna's wise words. The truths she shares are universal for us all as we live in community and face offense of every kind.

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Amy Sylvestre Amy Sylvestre

Episode 241 - Learning from Leadership Pain with Glenn Burris

With so much going against leaders today, how can one learn to push through the hardships and challenges and stay the course? How do you keep pressing on when discouragement, rejection, or wounds make you want to quit?

Glenn Burris has served his entire adult life in ministry. He has led churches and organizations through the ups and downs that inevitably come. He has suffered the wounds that can come from being out front. He knows how often the enemy will attempt to discourage or distract you as you answer the call God has for your life.

It was through his lifetime of service that the Lord taught him the value of humility and wholeness as he sought to lead others. With a pastoral heart, Glenn continues to guide and shepherd others with the hard won wisdom he has after seeing so much in ministries, organizations, and in life. Ultimately, Glenn has learned that circumstances can't dictate his outlook, but his trust in the Lord can.

In this episode, Davey gleans from the deep well of wisdom that Glenn shares about how to stay in ministry for the long haul, the importance to keep our eyes focused on the eternal, and how pain can be a teacher.

We are all leading in some capacity, whether in ministry, in the workplace or in our home. This conversation will equip you to keep going when life makes leading hard.

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