Jenell Shields Jenell Shields

Episode 349- Finding Your Way Back to God in an Age of Deconstruction with Dr. Lina AbuJamra

What do you do when the people of God fail and you find yourself questioning God because of it? How do you deconstruct your misunderstandings about God, His people and life without deconstructing your faith altogether?

For author, Bible teacher, and medical doctor Lina AbuJamra healing from the hurt she experienced from her church led her on an unexpected journey in her faith. What started as a deep disappointment in people led her to feeling let down by God. It took a lot of time and realizations that what she had come to believe about God and how He worked wasn't based on His truth and that perhaps deconstructing the falsehoods and misunderstandings about God, wasn't a bad thing. However, as things were being taken apart in her understanding of who God was, she also needed to reconstruct what was true so that her faith would strengthen rather than fade away. It wasn't a quick process, but a holy one and one that she wrote about in her book, Fractured Faith: Finding Your Way Back to God in an Age of Deconstruction.

In this helpful conversation, Aubrey and Lina talk about why deconstruction is often rooted in our disappointments, ways in which we can heal from Church hurt, and how sometimes our doubts, questions and hurt can lead us into a deeper faith.

If you or someone you know has walked through being hurt by the Church and has found themselves unraveling, this episode will encourage you that perhaps through your hurt, God is wanting to rebuild in you a stronger, more resilient faith and life in Him.

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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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Amy Sylvestre Amy Sylvestre

Episode 224 - Redemption Out of the Dust with Chris and Steph Teague

What happens when the life you've built turns to dust? For Steph Teague, it began with just a few short sentences: "I don't think I believe in God anymore and I want a divorce".

Hearing those words from her high school sweetheart, Chris, was devastating and yet, she slowly began to rebuild her life after such a deep hurt. Chris was on a seemingly separate journey through addiction, doubts, and deconstruction.

In time, the Lord got a hold of Chris' heart and he experienced true life transformation, only to realize the mistake he had made in leaving his wife. Through God's kindness, the two would later reconcile, remarry and go on to start a band called Out of the Dust, where they would write songs of the loss and redemption in their story.

Join Davey, Chris, and Steph as they talk about how to trust God when those we love wrestle with doubts and deconstruction, healing a marriage after brokenness, and the importance of community in whatever pain we face.

This episode is an encouragement for anyone who feels like life's circumstances are beyond repair and who longs for redemption out of the dust.

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