Why I’m Changing Honest Christian Conversations: Christian Discernment & A New Direction

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Have you ever taken a step of faith and it paid off,

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just not the way you expected?

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That's exactly where I find myself today with this podcast and its future.

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I'm Anna Murby,

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and this is Honest Christian Conversations.

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If this is your first time here,

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welcome.

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I'm really glad you're here.

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And if you're coming back,

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thank you for sticking with me.

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Today's episode serves a few purposes.

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I want to share some personal discoveries,

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offer a bit of encouragement,

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and give you a few updates about the podcast,

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including a pretty special one toward the end,

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so stick around.

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When I decided to step out of my comfort zone and start having conversations with people who think differently from me,

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I honestly didn't know what to expect.

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But two things surprised me.

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First,

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I didn't realize how hard it would be to find people willing to come on the show and talk openly about our differences.

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And second,

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I definitely didn't expect how deeply these conversations would change me.

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My prayer is that these conversations transformed you too,

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and that you feel a little more equipped and encouraged to go out and be the hands and feet of Jesus in your everyday life.

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If you haven't listened to any of Season

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6's content,

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The link will be in the show notes to check out the episodes.

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Before we talk about what's changing for the podcast,

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I want to honor the people who showed up this season because every one of these conversations stretched me in a different way.

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These are only snippets of what I learned from these guests.

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For the more detailed reflections,

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I'd encourage you to go back and listen to the mini-sodes that dropped on Fridays after each episode.

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The link is in the show notes.

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For now,

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I just want to reflect briefly on these conversations in hopes of encouraging you,

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and then we'll get into the meat and potatoes of this episode,

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the changes coming to the podcast.

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If you've walked with God for more than a minute,

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you know He loves to keep us on our toes.

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And lately,

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He's reminded me of something I needed to hear.

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He is the host of this podcast.

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I'm not.

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So stick around.

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These updates are worth hearing.

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So what did I learn from my guests?

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Well,

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Scott Mocha reminded me that faith lived out in real life isn't neat and polished.

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It's messy,

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relational,

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and slow.

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And that it's okay to still be learning how to walk faithfully in the middle of complexity.

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West and Brandon opened my eyes to the reality that we all grieve,

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regardless of our beliefs.

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And even across those differences,

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we can still relate.

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to one another,

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show up for each other,

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and listen,

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encourage,

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and spur one another toward healing.

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John Dedeikis pushed me to think more carefully about how politics,

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media,

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and faith intersect,

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not with easy answers,

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but with a reminder of the importance of thinking critically,

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not just emotionally.

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Anne A.M.

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Giever

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reminded me how powerful a story is,

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how lived experience shapes theology,

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and how listening to someone's journey doesn't mean I have to adopt all their conclusions in order to love them well.

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And lastly,

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talking with James Moffitt both convicted and encouraged me.

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It confronted some of the lies I believed about why I can't share my faith,

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and it reminded me that there isn't just

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one quote-unquote right way to share the gospel.

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If you've listened to any of these episodes and felt uncomfortable at times,

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I just want to say you aren't alone.

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I was right there with you,

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and I think that discomfort has been a gift.

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It's been sanctifying in ways I didn't expect.

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Now let's talk changes to the podcast.

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Without getting into too much details here,

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There was a situation with the community that honestly felt discouraging at first.

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Several months ago,

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I had it on my heart that I wanted to move the community that I had created on Facebook off of Facebook so people who aren't doing social media would be able to engage and have community as well.

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I found a perfect platform.

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I updated it,

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made it the

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brand colors,

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put everything together,

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was just about to start sharing it with everyone.

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And then I got the email from the platform.

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They were going to be discontinuing the free accounts,

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which means that if you didn't choose one of their premium paid ones,

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which was way out of my price range,

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you would lose your community.

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To say I was frustrated would be an understatement.

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I was thinking,

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God,

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I'm trying to build something for you here.

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What are you doing?

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But what?

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I've been sensing is that he is minimizing things on purpose right now.

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It's not a punishment,

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but it's as protection.

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It's almost like he's saying,

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let's simplify,

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let's quiet the noise,

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let's tend to the roots instead of trying to grow the branches too fast.

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And honestly,

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I think I needed that.

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I had been feeling stretched thin.

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I'd been feeling confused on directions,

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on what to do with the community,

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with the podcast,

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with the flow of it for the next season coming up.

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All these different things that I had on my mind,

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these ideas that I had for the podcast,

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I just needed to slow down and allow God to sift through what he really wants to do for the podcast,

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because the podcast is not mine.

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It's his and it's for you.

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So it didn't matter what I wanted to do.

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I needed to do what God wanted to do.

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What would be best for you,

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the listener?

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So for now,

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the community will stay on Facebook.

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And as time goes on,

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I'll be making changes to improve it for you.

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So if you have any ideas,

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I genuinely love to hear them.

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The contact link is in the show notes.

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Now let's get to the...

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biggest changes that are happening to the podcast.

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Honest Christian Conversations will be shifting to a monthly release rhythm,

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which means they are no longer going to be weekly.

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That means that the last two weeks of March,

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there will not be an episode.

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The next one coming out will be April

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1st.

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Moving to monthly was not about doing less.

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It was about creating space to do things more intentionally,

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prayerfully,

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and sustainably.

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I don't want to rush the conversations that deserve care.

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The things I'm going to be talking about are going to stretch us.

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They are going to equip us.

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They are going to give us deeper discernment and direction.

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So these things deserve time.

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And I didn't want to feel rushed.

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I didn't want you to feel rushed.

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that you had to get through one before the next one comes out.

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Now,

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another thing that I'm going to be doing that is a little different from what I've done before,

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since I'm doing deeper dives into things,

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I'm going to be breaking them up into different mini series,

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I guess is what we'll call them.

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So in between those topic series that I do,

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I am going to be adding in music breaks.

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These will be episodes where we look at one problematic worship song,

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what makes it problematic,

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and follow it up with a more spiritually grounded alternative.

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This isn't about having it out for the artists or for certain types of music.

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It's about practicing discernment with love,

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humility,

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and care.

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And I want to thank one of my friends for giving me this idea.

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This was something that's been on my heart for a while,

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hers as well.

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And she just nonchalantly brought it up one time that I should make this part of the podcast.

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And it's finally happening.

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So it's going to be amazing.

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And it's definitely going to be an encouragement to your walk with God.

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You might have noticed the show now has a tagline,

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Finding Truth in the Noise.

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It really reflects the heart behind.

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where God has been leading this podcast over the last year.

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The heart of Honest Christian Conversations isn't changing,

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but the clarity around its mission is.

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So what else will be changing in this upcoming season and beyond?

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Well,

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that's going to bring me to a few other things.

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As you know,

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if you've been listening for a time,

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I have...

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been doing mini-sodes after every episode since season five started.

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I'm not quite going to be doing the weekly ones.

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What it's going to be now will be mid-month reflections.

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So the third

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Friday of the month will be a mid-month reflection.

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They're going to be the same minisodes that you've known and you love in the moment reflections,

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what stood out to me emotionally or spiritually while recording or listening back to that monthly episode.

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Another thing that's going to be changing,

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you might actually not know about this because I haven't exactly promoted it well.

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I have a blog and I'm going to be changing how I use it.

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Instead of regular posts about the episodes with some probing questions,

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I'm going to write when I feel led by the Holy Spirit to write.

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These will be slower,

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more thoughtful reflections,

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sometimes going deeper into themes from the podcast,

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or sometimes just processing honestly in writing.

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They're going to live on my website for now,

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and maybe in the future,

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I'll put them on Substack.

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Now,

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here is the special update that I mentioned I had for you at the beginning of the episode.

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Before I wrap up,

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I wanted to give you a tiny glimpse of what's coming next season.

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Here's a short teaser from the first three episodes of our first topic series.

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Enjoy.

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We're all addicted to something.

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So recovery is not some dark art form about just dealing with substances.

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It's about how do you live life effectively?

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Hey,

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why do we wait till people crash and burn and then send them to recovery?

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That makes no sense.

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Why don't we help people learn how to live right in the first place?

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I thought my wife was taking drugs to escape me.

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I thought she was escaping me because I did something wrong because I was bad.

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That's how bad Dakota Bennett is.

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So if I could just fix her,

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she won't take the medicine and she could see clearly how.

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good I am.

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She'll accept me and won't have to take medicine.

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That's where the battle begins.

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That's the thought process.

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We're talking about a generation that once again is yearning for,

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yes,

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that sense of authenticity,

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but just knowing that they're seen and they're heard and that they're going to be okay.

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And sex is real.

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Porn is real,

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but my God is real as well.

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What do you think?

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Are you excited?

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I am so excited.

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This is something that

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is really on my heart and I know that is going to transform lives.

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It is something that is absolutely necessary to talk about right now.

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Make sure you stay tuned.

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April

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1st, that's when it all starts.

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Now,

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before we go,

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whether you've been here for a while or this is your first time,

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thank you,

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truly.

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You're not just listening to a podcast.

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You're walking with me through something God is still shaping in me too.

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As we move into this new rhythm,

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my prayer is that honest Christian conversation stays a place where faith is real,

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questions are welcome,

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and truth is pursued with humility and love.

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I'll see you in season seven.