Jenell Shields Jenell Shields

Episode 357- The Life-Changing Power of Friendship with Craig Cooper

How can hospitality and kindness be a conduit for life-transforming change? What can happen when we open our hearts and homes to those in need of hope?

Craig Cooper was a church planting pastor when his path crossed with a struggling Nashville musician named Walker Hayes. Walker was a self-proclaimed atheist and an alcoholic who lost a record deal and was struggling to make ends meet. Craig and his whole family welcomed Walker and his family into their lives. Loving them well, showing up when they needed a friend, and helping them as needs came up in life. It was through their friendship that God began to soften Walker's heart towards the gospel. He would eventually quit drinking and said yes to Jesus, forever changing his life. After his life changed internally, he also experienced an outward shift as he got a record deal and a hit country song called "Fancy Like." Craig and Walker chronicled their unique and pivotal friendship in their book called Glad You're Here: Two Unlikely Friends Breaking Bread and Fences.

In this episode, Davey and Craig discuss the importance of walking with people through the highs and lows, how Scripture can help us in the valley, and why grace through friendship is so significant in a generation facing an epidemic of loneliness.

If you've ever wondered how you can be a conduit of God's grace to those right next door, this conversation will encourage you to step outside your comfort zone and open your home and heart to those in your life who need it most.

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Jenell Shields Jenell Shields

Episode 328 - The Night is Normal with Dr. Alicia Britt Chole

What do we do when our faith feels like the darkness of night? How do we find our way through when God is hard to see or feel?

Author and speaker Dr. Alicia Britt Chole was never afraid of asking questions. In fact, it was her own father's willingness to hear and respond to the many curiosities in her spirit that gave her a picture for God's willingness to listen to and speak to all the questions, the fears, and the doubts in life. Through her personal study of scripture, she began to take notice of the idea of night, of a darkness or obscurity, that can mark our journeys with Jesus.

In an effort to normalize this very valuable and healthy part of our spiritual growth, Dr. Chole wrote The Night is Normal: A Guide Through Spiritual Pain, to help readers identify what can cause our spiritual pain and how to navigate through those seasons of disillusionment and seasons where we are losing hope. Through scriptural evidence and personal experience, Dr. Chole proves that while painful, our disillusionment and those night seasons can become our greatest gifts in our journey towards faith and hope.

In this profound conversation, Aubrey and Dr. Chole talk about how God pursues us when we are far from Him, the causes of our spiritual pain, and why normalizing our difficult seasons can help us find a way through them.

If you've ever found yourself with more questions than answers when it comes to your faith, this episode will prove that God can handle all your questions, all your doubts, and all your disillusionment and that the night you may be experiencing will not last forever.

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