Podcasts about biblical response

Every June, Christians seem to fall into one of two camps.Some charge into the culture war with anger and condemnation.Others stay silent and avoid the conversation altogether.But what did Jesus actually do?In this video, we examine Scripture—not social media—and look directly at how Jesus engaged people who were living in sin. From the woman at the well, to the woman caught in adultery, to Zacchaeus, a clear pattern emerges:Jesus moved toward people.Jesus treated them with dignity.Jesus spoke truth.Jesus offered hope.We'll examine Romans 1, 1 Corinthians 6, Genesis, Luke 15, John 4, John 8, Luke 19, and other key passages to answer one question:What should a Christ-centered response to Pride Month actually look like?Whether you're a Christian, skeptical of Christianity, or someone who has been hurt by the church, this conversation is for you.Subscribe for more biblical truth, apologetics, culture, and faith discussions.#PrideMonth #Jesus #Christianity #LGBTQ #BibleStudy #TruthBehindTheMikeChapter List:00:00 What Does Jesus Say About Pride Month?01:36 The Two Mistakes Christians Make05:52 What the Bible Says About Homosexuality06:21 Romans 1 Explained08:33 1 Corinthians 6 Explained09:55 God's Design for Marriage10:45 How Jesus Treated People in Sexual Sin11:10 The Woman at the Well13:01 The Woman Caught in Adultery15:01 Zacchaeus and Radical Grace16:21 A Biblical Response to Pride Month17:34 Why Many People Don't Trust the Church18:40 The Mission of the Church19:04 If You've Been Hurt by Christians20:14 Jesus Chose Neither Side20:48 Truth Behind the MikeSend us Fan MailSupport the showWatch these podcasts on YouTube!Follow Us!YouTube: @behindthemikepodcastInstagram: @behindthemikepodcastTikTok:  @behind_the_mike_podcastFacebook:  @behindthemikepodcast

This episode is a REPLAY. Today, I talk about how Christians should respond to the LGBTQ+ movement, especially during pride month. I give an honest answer to why I haven't spoken on it before, how Christians should and shouldn't respond, what the Bible says God thinks about LGBTQ+ lifestyle, and more!  Links: The Wonder Project: Subscriber support makes more great content like I Gotta Ask with Annie F. Downs possible. The Wonder Project subscription on Prime Video is available in the U.S. for $8.99/month or $89.99/year after a 7-day free trial. Visit IGottaAsk.com to learn more! Episode Timeline: 02:20 What does the Bible say about homosexuality + being LGBTQ+? 08:45 How should Christians respond? 20:00 What would Jesus do? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Top Ten from 2025: #10 Domestic Violence and Abuse: Identifying and Healing from Abusive Relationships with Stacey Womack (Episode 263)   Mark 10:27 NKJV "But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.”   **Transcription of original episode** Domestic Violence and Abuse: Identifying and Healing from Abusive Relationships with Stacey Womack (Episode 263)   Questions and Topics We Discuss: Will you teach us about the various types of abuse? How do we respond appropriately and in a Christ-like manner when someone does report abuse? What are your views for having biblical reasons for divorce, specifically as it relates to each type of abuse?   Stacey Womack is an award-winning expert in domestic violence from a faith-based perspective. She founded Abuse Recovery Ministry & Services (ARMS) in 1997 and she is a published author and sought after national speaker. Stacey developed and wrote the curriculum used for ARMS programs, including Her Journey for survivors of abuse and Mankind and Virtue for men and women who have used abusive behaviors. She has assisted tens of thousands of people in recovering from both the receiving and giving of abuse. Her passion has grown ARMS, a small grassroots organization, to now having an international reach.   Abuse Recovery Ministry & Services Website   Stacey's Books   Thank You to Our Sponsor: Grace Catering   Other Related Episodes on The Savvy Sauce: 146 Biblical Response to Emotionally Destructive Relationships with Leslie Vernick 148 Overcoming Evil with Good: Recognizing Spiritual Abuse with Dr. Diane Langberg   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook or Instagram or Our Website   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV) Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” 

Dear Church, Greetings to you all!You can watch a short video preview for this podcast here.How would one of the finest preachers throughout the history of Great Britain have responded to the Artemis II mission to the moon?“The modern scientist who denies the gospel is confirming the gospel.”— Martyn Lloyd-JonesMaranatha?

Pastor Scott Ardavanis preaches a sermon from Psalm 139 verses 13 through 18 on a biblical response to abortion.

Christian Advice for Toxic Relationships Part 2 with Kris Reece (Episode 289)   *Disclaimer* This episode contains mature content and user discretion is suggested.   2 Timothy 3:1-5 NIV “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”   *Transcription Below*   Kris Reece is a Christian Author, Toxic Relationship Coach, and Manipulation Tactics Specialist. Kris equips believers to escape the grip of toxic relationships—especially those shaped by guilt, confusion, or spiritual distortion. Her work empowers Christians to set biblical boundaries and walk in emotional and spiritual freedom. Connect with her on Instagram or through her website.    Thank you to our sponsor for today's episode: Sam Leman Eureka   Topics and Questions We Cover: Do you believe it's more nature or nurture or do you have any insight on why people are narcissists? Can we cut off toxic people without disobeying God? Will you share how we can forgive biblically, without tolerating further abuse?   Other Related Episodes on The Savvy Sauce Podcast: 146 Biblical Response to Emotionally Destructive Relationships with Leslie Vernick 148 Overcoming Evil with Good: Recognizing Spiritual Abuse with Dr. Diane Langberg 263. Domestic Violence and Abuse: Identifying and Healing from Abusive Relationships with Stacey Womack   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook or Instagram or Our Website   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV) Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcription*   Music: (0:00 – 0:10)   Laura Dugger: (0:11 - 1:13) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.   Thank you to an anonymous donor to Midwest Food Bank, who paid the sponsorship fee in hopes of spreading awareness. Learn more about this amazing nonprofit organization at MidwestFoodBank.org.   My returning guest for today is Kris Reece. If you didn't listen to last week's episode, I hope that you'll just press pause right now and go back to listen to part one.   After reading her amazing book, Breaking the Narcissist's Grip, I knew that we would need multiple weeks to cover this very important topic. So, we're going to dive deeper into part two today. Here's our chat.   Welcome back to The Savvy Sauce, Kris.   Kris Reece: (1:14 - 1:18) Thank you so much, Laura. I am so excited to be here again today.   Laura Dugger: (1:18 - 1:47) Well, I am delighted to have you back. And it was so surprising your answer to that first question last week. So, I want to unpack that a little bit further.   You were talking about so many adults who were struggling and coming for coaching that they were identifying the same thing, a relationship with a toxic mother. And so, can you paint the picture of what that actually looked like when they had that realization?   Kris Reece: (1:49 - 5:10) Well, you know, what's interesting is everybody had different realizations. Some came to them on their own. I wish I could take credit for it.   They really just came to the wow, I didn't realize just how much my mother keeps coming into this. And then others were really, you know, we had to kind of dig a little bit deeper in terms of what happened in childhood. And again, I'm not the type of counselor who would just sit back and look for excuses to blame somebody's parents.   Absolutely not. But when we start to kind of take a step back into the past to understand what's happening in the present, that's when all of that began to unfold. So, one woman in particular, oh, Laura, it broke my heart.   Absolutely. So, she was struggling with a very difficult marriage. She had no idea what she wanted to do with her life.   And she, honestly, from the way what she said, she says, I don't even know who I am. And when we started to unpack the relationship with her mother and her father and what life looked like when she was growing up, everything was all about pleasing her mother. And I don't mean in a healthy way where, of course, we want to please and get the approval of our parents.   It was to such an extreme that if she didn't speak the way her mother wanted her to, if she didn't comply the way her mother wanted her to, the mother would then manipulate. She would start to cry. Why are you destroying me?   Do you not see what you're doing to me? And then if that didn't work, if the daughter even tried to, and I got to tell you, from what I hear from this young lady, like maybe the age of 12, she had some pretty healthy responses that she was trying to take to this woman. And when that didn't go well, the mother wouldn't talk to her for a week, a week.   She wouldn't even cook for her. She wouldn't do anything. She wouldn't even acknowledge her presence.   So, this woman grew up believing that I now have to perform. And what's worse, she developed these codependent traits because she learned how to be a mood monitor. I have to now tiptoe around what is mom going to think.   What is mom going to say? And no longer is she now doing what's right. She's doing what feels right, meaning what's going to keep me out of trouble?   What's going to keep mom most happy with me? And she knew all of this was dysfunctional. But at the same time, of course, you're talking about a 12-year-old, and obviously these traits were going on long before that.   She's just learning how to cope. She's not there to parent the parent. But so now that's what she was taught and caught.   So, it's not like the mother came out of the bedroom every morning and said, hey, I'm going to teach you how to perform for me. I'm going to teach you how to monitor all of my moods. She didn't do that.   Everything was caught. So now her default mechanism is giving in to problematic relationships, tiptoeing around, avoiding things. So that's where the issue in her marriage then came in, and it started to get unpacked when we discovered what relationship with mom was like.   Laura Dugger: (5:12 - 5:39) Okay, and that's always so helpful to hear a true story, how that played out. I'm hearing sometimes maybe if you have a parent who's a narcissist, maybe that's likely that the child will experience codependency. But then also, do you see it as a typical generational pattern?   Let's say if you had a narcissistic mother, a lot of times she'll raise a narcissistic son and so on.   Kris Reece: (5:41 - 8:02) Unfortunately, yes. So guaranteed narcissism? Absolutely not. Guaranteed dysfunctional traits? Yes, unfortunately. So how can I be in an unhealthy environment and walk out healthy?   Unless I've done some work to recognize what the unhealthy patterns were. This is how I, I don't want to say contributed as in the child is at fault, but this is what I did to cope. And what helped me survive back then is actually killing me today.   So, unless a child, an adult child is going to begin to do that work, then yes, they're going to continue to carry some dysfunctional traits. Is it automatic that they will become narcissists? No, no, no, no, absolutely not.   Can they? Sure. Absolutely.   So, when we talk about how narcissism gets developed, it's especially through raising, it's either an overly attentive, overly admiring type of parent. Like, you know, Timmy can do no wrong. He's just wonderful and awesome and this and that.   So yeah, chances are Timmy's going to kind of step out of that with some bit of a narcissism. So, when the world smacks him around a little bit and says, Hey, you're not so awesome. He's either going to wake up and say, well, maybe I'm not, or he's now going to make those people the problem.   So narcissistic parents have a tendency to project all of their stuff onto the child. So, I, I encountered this one, one daughter that I worked with whose mother was a narcissist and whose brother now was becoming a narcissist. And what she would do is she would tell the son, this is why your teacher is picking on you.   He's jealous of you. This is why, you know, your, um, your friend doesn't call you anymore. It's because he's jealous of you.   So, she is priming this young man to be a narcissist because when he gets out into the world, not everybody's going to comply to that message. And now he's going to have the language to make them the problem. So, the son was a narcissist, the daughter, not so much, but she had a lot of dysfunctional traits that came as a, as a result of that relationship.   Laura Dugger: (8:03 - 8:16) Okay. So, then kind of the age-old question, do you have any insight for how much narcissism is nature versus nurture? What are we born with versus what are we trained into?   Kris Reece: (8:18 - 11:07) That's an awesome question because science shows us that narcissism is both. It's nature and nurture nature in the sense that we're all born selfish. We're all, we are all born sinful, but nurture, which implies the environment, plays a stronger role in whether those traits are actually going to develop into full blown narcissism or maybe even narcissistic personality disorder, which is far more rare than people think it is.   So, when we look at genetics, so that would be nature, twin and family studies actually suggest about 40 to 60% of narcissistic traits are hereditary, meaning that some people are born with temperaments that make them more prone to arrogance, low empathy, or emotional sensitivity. I don't know that I agree with that entirely, but let's move on to the nurture part. This is your environment.   So, the other 40 to 60% they say come from upbringing, things like overindulging or a highly critical parent. So, it can actually be both sides. So, it's not only the overindulgence, but it's that highly critical parent that is always criticizing but never offering any structured support.   It also comes from that inconsistent affection, conditional love. That's a huge one. I will love you if.   It can also come from childhood trauma, which can actually spawn from neglect or being overly praised for their performance rather than their character. So, in other words, genetics may load the gun, but environment pulls the trigger. So, what starts as survival, I'll never be hurt again, can now grow into pride, control, and entitlement.   So, I believe personally it has more to do with nurture. Science will say there's a strong mix of both. I think it's more nurture.   I do believe that we all have a temperament. You look at any children in your family. I don't know how many kids you have, but you'll see that even from a very young age, they all have very unique personalities from a very young age.   But within that temperament, we're all going to have our strengths and our weaknesses. So, some temperaments may be a little bit more prone to pride that does not guarantee narcissism because I've seen plenty of people with that temperament operate in their strengths as opposed to their weaknesses. So, I think a lot of it has to do more with nurture.   Laura Dugger: (11:08 - 11:38) That is incredibly helpful. And as people have been listening to this conversation and last week's conversation, let's just say if they open up to us and say, I've identified I am in relationship with a narcissist, what's the most helpful thing we can do and the most hurtful way we could respond, especially as Jesus followers?   Kris Reece: (11:39 - 13:30) I know we touched on this lightly last week. The first step is to shift your focus. That focus has got to come off the narcissist and back onto yourself and Jesus and Jesus through you.   You're not going to be able to change them. You are not going to be able to change them. If you're taking notes, I want you to write that down.   You cannot change them. Highlight it. Asterisk it. Circle it. Do whatever you need to do. You cannot change them, but you can choose how you respond.   So, when you stop trying to manage their behavior and start letting God heal your heart, everything changes. So, where we can begin is by saying, Lord, show me. Show me where I've lost my peace and help me take it back.   Show me where I have reacted inappropriately. Show me the entire truth in this situation because this is where real freedom is going to come in, not in fixing them, but in allowing God to restore you. So, you're saying what's the best thing they can do and what's the worst thing they can do?   The worst thing you can do is continue to focus on them. I know you're a narcissist. I know you're doing this.   I see you. Don't, don't, don't. It's going to steal your peace because remember, they've got default tactics.   They're either going to start love bombing and you're going to think, oh, this was great. I changed them. You didn't change them.   They just changed their tactic or they're going to start gaslighting you and they're going to start twisting scripture and they're going to start throwing it back at you. And that, that sense of enlightenment, if I'm allowed to use that word in this sense, that you're so enlightened to what they're doing and what's going on is going to get robbed so quickly. So, shift your focus.   Laura Dugger: (13:31 - 13:53) Okay. And then one step further, let's say it's our friend who comes to us. So then one step removed. Basically, even as the church, how can we respond to that person in a way that's actually helpful to them? And how can we respond in ways that are unintentionally, but still hurtful?   Kris Reece: (13:54 - 17:21) Yeah. So, this is so important. And I wish more people in the church would hear this because some of the worst gas lighters are standing behind the pulpit.   We put spiritual band-aids over demonic hemorrhages and we actually begin to make the situation worse. So, the most helpful thing that you can do is to believe them. Listen without judgment.   Now, I understand that there are a lot of people out there, and especially with that term narcissist. You have a pastor that's sitting down with a woman who comes into the office and says, my husband is a narcissist. We all just bristle.   I bristle when somebody comes in and says, this one's a narcissist. My first question is always going to be this. What makes you say that?   I don't automatically correct them. I don't criticize. And I believe them to the degree that they're going through something.   Doesn't mean I have to believe them to the degree of what they would consider the diagnosis because that's irrelevant. But what we do need to believe is that they are going through something. And they need to be listened to without judgment.   Now, if something's wrong, if something needs to be corrected, we can do that later. Are we really going to bring any harm to somebody by delaying a little bit of correction while we make a proper assessment? So, if we're going to default to either one, whether it's not believing them or believing them, please believe them.   Just be that safe place. Because people in narcissistic relationships, true narcissistic relationships, are already doubting themselves. They are already questioning their own reality.   What they need is safety, not more spiritual pressure. So, we want to avoid things like spiritual bypassing. And this is where we just kind of stick scriptures on that emotional hemorrhage.   Oh, just forgive. Oh, just move on. Don't you think you're overreacting?   Have you prayed on this? Are you giving more sex? You know, we throw all of this.   And that kind of advice actually is the gaslighting that keeps someone trapped in a shame cycle because they walk out of there. I can't tell you the number of times men and women alike, they walk out from a Christian counselor or a church environment, and they feel worse than when they came in. They're not even looking for somebody to say, yes, he's awful. He's the devil. You are so wonderful. That's not even what they're looking for.   They're looking for some semblance of sanity. So, what you want to do is just remind them that Jesus never asked them to confuse love with tolerating abuse. Our job is not to fix their situation but just be that safe place that they need right in that moment.   That's really helpful. I'm a little passionate about that because it really angers me how the church is handling all of this stuff. We do a lot of messages on forgiveness, but we don't do any messages on accountability.   We're not doing any messages on repentance and owning our part. So, it leaves the one who's already assuming the responsibility to try to assume some more.   Laura Dugger: (17:24 - 20:01) And I think that's so helpful for, like you said, for pastors, for people in the church, for biblical counselors, because that can sound great, biblical counseling and giving scripture. But practically, sometimes that, I mean, Satan, even when he was tempting Jesus, used scripture, but twisted it and manipulated it. Not saying that biblical counselors are doing that, but that we can... Not intentionally, but yeah. That's a good clarification because we can misapply that.   And now a brief message from our sponsor.   Midwest Food Bank exists to provide industry-leading food relief to those in need while feeding them spiritually. They are a food charity with a desire to demonstrate God's love by providing help to those in need. Unlike other parts of the world where there's not enough food, in America, the resources actually do exist.   That's why food pantries and food banks like Midwest Food Bank are so important. The goods that they deliver to their agency partners help to supplement the food supply for families and individuals across our country, aiding those whose resources are beyond stretched. Midwest Food Bank also supports people globally through their locations in Haiti and East Africa, which are some of the areas hardest hit by hunger arising from poverty.   This ministry reaches millions of people every year, and thanks to the Lord's provision, 99% of every donation goes directly toward providing food to people in need. The remaining 1% of income is used for fundraising, cost of leadership, oversight, and other administrative expenses. Donations, volunteers, and prayers are always appreciated for Midwest Food Bank.   To learn more, visit MidwestFoodBank.org or listen to episode 83 of The Savvy Sauce, where the founder, David Kieser, shares miracles of God that he's witnessed through this nonprofit organization. I hope you check them out today. My desire would be the same as yours, that people could come to the church as part of their healing.   But I think that is helpful. We need to be aware of where we've gotten this wrong. And it is something you even wrote about in the foreword of your book.   You said that in Christian community, forgiveness is often misapplied as tolerance for abuse. So, is there anything else you'd want to add to that, especially sharing ways that we can forgive biblically without tolerating further abuse?   Kris Reece: (20:02 - 21:54) Absolutely. But first, I have to give credit to the incredible Gloria Gaynor. She was the one who actually wrote that powerful line in the foreword.   Forgiveness is often misapplied for tolerating abuse. And she captured something that I see so often in the church. Many Christians were taught that forgiving someone means keeping them close, pretending the offense never happened, and reconciling and trusting again.   But biblical forgiveness and reconciliation are not the same thing. Because forgiveness releases the offender from your judgment. Reconciliation requires their repentance.   You would be very foolish; I would be very foolish to reconcile in a relationship where there was no repentance. And Jesus commands us to forgive. Matthew 18, 22.   But he never told us to keep giving access to someone who refuses to turn from sin. He even set boundaries with those who are unrepentant. So why aren't we?   And I think that starts to become this Christian badge of honor, like we're somehow martyrs that we keep tolerating this abuse all in the name of love instead of setting boundaries. Because the truth is, at the end of the day, if I can be perfectly honest here, a lot of times it's not about us being loving, it's about us being afraid. Us being afraid to set those boundaries, afraid of their reaction, afraid of confrontation.   It's not about love. So yes, we can fully forgive and still create distance. But now we have to deal with the fallout of what that distance creates.   And that's stuff that if we turn our focus to Jesus, he begins to do in us. It's glorious if you actually allow it to unfold.   Laura Dugger: (21:56 - 22:24) Wow. And you've seen firsthand, I'm sure, so many miracles take place. But then you've said last time you're a practical gal.   So, as a believer, let's say if someone is in a relationship with a narcissist, that that's their parent or their spouse and they're unrepentant and it's been awful. Is there a way that as Christians they can cut off the relationship without disobeying God?   Kris Reece: (22:26 - 27:24) Absolutely. So, title is not going to trump toxicity. So, when the narcissist is a parent or a spouse, the answer isn't going to always be to just walk away.   It's to walk wisely. Because freedom doesn't always mean I got to say goodbye. It means I'm no longer being controlled by you.   And sometimes that's going to require distance or maybe even no contact for a season. Other times it just means a little bit more of an emotional detachment. And I don't mean that in a way that somebody might interpret as like I'm just going to now be cold to you.   But what I mean is that emotional detachment is that my identity, my worth is not wrapped up in your opinion of me. It's not wrapped up in your words. So, I have to have that emotional detachment so I can walk boldly in my purpose, in my identity.   And I can clearly set boundaries within the relationship. So, either way we have to look at this as the goal isn't revenge. The goal is not punishment.   It's peace. It's clarity. It's stewardship.   And that's where a lot of people get tossed up because we think, oh, you know, this is my spouse. This is my mother. And, okay, let's kind of separate those a little bit because the spousal relationship is the only covenantal relationship.   So, if your spouse has some narcissistic traits, meaning they're a little bit manipulative, they lie sometimes, they gaslight you, all that stuff, is that grounds for divorce? Unfortunately, no, no. You know, when it starts to venture into abuse, should we be getting away?   Yes. Every situation is going to be different to somebody listening right now that's going to bring tremendous relief to someone else. They're going to be very angry that I just said that because they want that way out.   But if God is not releasing you right now, I promise you it's because He's looking to do a work in you. And He's allowing this to stay right now. But, again, that is not an excuse to tolerate abuse.   But we also have to be careful what we call abuse. You don't make my breakfast the way I like and then you laugh at me. That's not abuse.   That's just a kind of faulty character. So, we really have to be careful as to what we label abuse. I know we're kind of getting down a little bit of a rabbit trail here.   But I know this is a very sensitive topic for most because some will say, no, the only biblical release for marriage is infidelity. And others will recognize that God does give concession for abuse. He's not calling you to stay in an abusive situation.   But we need to be careful what we do call abuse. So, walking away from the spouse is not as easy as walking away from a parent. You know, a parent, it's a little bit easier, but we still want to be able to guard our heart and understanding, am I walking away because I'm punishing you, because I don't want to deal with you, because I can't stand you, or dare I even say there's hatred on my heart for you.   That we really have to do a self-check. But if we're walking away because we have to start protecting our peace and start stewarding everything God's given to us, whether that's our peace, our heart, our purpose, then that's biblical. Because I think it's more society tells us, no, no, no, we need to do what our parents say.   No, no, no, we need to live next door to our parents. No, no, no, we're not allowed to detach from them. Well, that's not what the Bible says.   You know, I look back over the Bible, and I'm just like, there are so many stories of people who, you know, kind of left their parents behind, whether for whatever reasons. Let's just say they journeyed on, and they never saw them again. You know, it wasn't like I have to live right next door to you.   But a lot of these parents will put their own rules in these relationships. And if you don't comply, well, now somehow the adult child is the problem. So again, sorry, I'm going down a few rabbit trails.   But this is a very passionate topic of mine, because there's so many nuances to it. And I wish I could just say that it's so easy as saying, just walk away. You know, you go to a lot of online resources, and they'll say, oh, you're with a narcissist?   Just leave. Just go no contact. It's not that easy, and it's not that biblical.   But sometimes it is. But here's what I do know, is that freedom isn't about always leaving them. It's about no longer losing yourself to them.   Laura Dugger: (27:26 - 28:19) That is good. And I think you've drawn it out clearly, that difference with it's a little bit easier to understand with a parent-child relationship. I'd love to dive into the spousal relationship, because that discernment is really tricky.   And like you said, it's so different from one situation to the next. I think of three other incredible women who have also been guests on the podcast. Because you can do a deep dive and listen to Dr. Diane Langberg, Leslie Vernick, and Stacey Womack, where we do discuss a lot of this. But Kris, I'd really value your opinion, too, to also help with that discernment. In the spousal covenant, how can you identify when there is abuse versus just some of those tendencies that you mentioned?   Kris Reece: (28:20 - 33:06) How do you differentiate? So, there's going to be a spiritual and then a practical approach to it. The first one is spiritual.   You have to be prayerful. Because a lot of, let's just say women in this case, a lot of women who struggle with codependency, they will see abuse where there may just be personality differences. There may be some character flaws.   There may be differences, some behavioral issues. But because she's been so afraid to speak up for so long that she's now internalizing it as I feel abused. So, I had one situation where this woman would constantly call her husband abusive.   So, she would say something like, you know, if you're going to keep talking to me this way, then I think we need to create a little bit of distance between us. And what he meant was, like, I need to go in the next room. Because, you know, you're really reactive here, and I don't like the way you're talking to me.   And she would say, “I'm tired of being abused by you.” And he would ask, “what are you referring to? What do you mean by abusive?”   And she would go off on these generalities. Now, is that to say that a woman like that isn't abused just because she can't put language to it? No, that's not true.   But we also have to be careful. Has our upbringing trained us to see abuse where there isn't? So, I just want to put that as a caveat.   That's not always the case. And a lot of the counselors that I've been friends with and I connect with, don't experience that a lot. For some reason, that's a lot of the women that God has sent to me.   I don't know why. I don't know why. But a lot of the ones that are interpreting abuse or exaggerating abuse, I should say, where it isn't as abusive as they're saying it is.   I need to step back a little bit because this is probably angering somebody right now. They're like, no, I'm being abused. I have no doubt.   I have no doubt about that. But there are going to be some, some of us, who will interpret abuse the wrong way. So, I need you to be very, very prayerful and careful with how we use that word because I personally think the word abuse is even more abused than the word narcissist because it's very convenient.   Unless I've got physical scars, unless I hear somebody's spouse constantly yelling at you and berating you, I can't quantify that. I can't see it. I don't know.   But I do know that there is something that's taking place within you and something that's definitely taking place within the dynamic. So now let's take a big giant step back. How do I know that this is abusive?   Somebody is constantly invalidating you, meaning they are questioning your motives. They are accusing you of things that you're not doing. They are taking away your support.   They are making themselves your lifeline, meaning they're kind of isolating you. They're saying unkind and untrue words. They are unrepentant, unrepentant people.   These people are abusive because they're going to look to constantly justify their behavior. If you can't have a healthy, open dialogue with somebody who, when they make mistakes, maybe they'll come back and repent later, then you are likely in more of an abusive situation than you are a healthy dynamic. And don't get me wrong.   We've all got our dysfunctions. I even had a conversation with my husband just yesterday. And he said to me, he's like, honey, are you sure that's the most healthy way to be interacting right now?   And I didn't even realize that I had fallen back into an old pattern. It was temporary, but we're able to call each other out on certain things. When you don't have that kind of healthy dynamic where you can now both be accountable to each other, one has the power in the relationship, it's likely abusive.   Laura Dugger: (33:06 - 34:26) By now, I hope you've checked out our updated website, thesavvysauce.com, so that you can have access to all the additional freebies we are offering, including all of our previous articles and all of our previous episodes, which now include transcriptions. You will be equipped to have your own practical chats for intentional living when you read all the recommended questions in the articles or gain insight from expert guests and past episodes as you read through the transcriptions. Because many people have shared with us that they want to take notes on previous episodes, or maybe their spouse prefers to read our conversations rather than listen to them.   We heard all of that and we now have provided transcripts for all our episodes. Just visit thesavvysauce.com. All of this is conveniently located under the tab show notes on our website. Happy reading!   You articulate things so well, Kris, and there's a million more questions I could ask you, but I want to respect your time. So, I know that there's places we can go after this conversation to just continue learning from you.   So, can you share where we could head after this chat?   Kris Reece: (34:27 - 34:40) Absolutely. Well, I'd love it if you would head on over to the website. That is krisreece.com.   It's Kris with a K, Reece with a C. There you'll find a whole bunch of resources, free downloads. My new book is there.   So that would be the best place to go.   Laura Dugger: (34:41 - 34:58) Wonderful. We'll link to that again in the show notes for today's episode. And as you remember from last time, we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge. And so, it's my final question for you today, Kris. What is your savvy sauce?   Kris Reece: (34:59 - 41:20) Absolutely. So, my Savvy Sauce is learning to trade people's expectations for God's direction. Because peace always follows purpose.   You know, for so long I thought success, even spiritual success, meant being busy, being available, being constantly on. And honestly, if I can dare confess, fixing people. But the truth is that burnout's not holy.   Productivity isn't purpose. And before now, before I say yes to anything, I ask this one question. Is this an assignment from God, an expectation from people, or a diversion from the devil?   And that single filter has brought so much clarity and peace into my life. And I know we're running low on time, but there's something that's really touching on my heart. May I speak to it?   Please. Because, you know, a lot of times we don't, as people who have been in toxic relationships, we have no filters anymore. We just allow everything that they're bringing in to just invade our soul.   We don't have any external filters. We don't filter our mouth. We don't filter our mind.   We don't filter anything. And we don't stop and ask, wait a minute, hold on a second. Is this coming from God?   And this is why it's not so easy to say, hey, you know, that toxic relationship with your mother, just leave. Just go no contact. Move five states away.   Or no, you need to honor and obey. You need to just stay put. There is no hard and fast rule.   Now, there is one. We are called to honor, but how we interpret that honor, that needs to be biblical, not according to mom's standards. So instead of just doing away with all filters, I want to be able to put those proper filters in place and saying, is this from God?   So, let's take the relationship, for example. In my previous marriage, I was married to a narcissist. I learned very early on in the marriage that there was a problem.   I had no idea it was narcissism. I didn't even get language for that until years after the divorce. But very early on in the marriage, and I said, okay, Lord, what do you want me to do?   Because everything in my flesh said just run, just run. And he had me stay for nine years. He had me stay.   And I went through so many different phases. But what I recognized is in those nine years, God did an amazing transformative work within me that in hindsight I recognized he couldn't have done, or probably, yeah, he couldn't have done because I would have just moved on. So, I needed to be in that situation to be on my knees.   I needed to be in the midst of it to be in prayer. Because if I just left, that would have been a form of avoidance. So, in that case, it wasn't as easy.   And according to some people, I probably would have had a biblical release to leave. Now, eventually, it was an obvious biblical release. I mean, there was no doubt I was free to leave this relationship.   And that's when I knew that God had released me. So, we want to be able to examine, okay, God, do you have me in this for a reason? Is it for a reason and a season?   What are you doing inside of this? We make the assumption as people that God would never want me to suffer like this. Is that true?   Because I suffered for nine years, and it brought me to a greater level of faith and a greater level of glory, so that suffering served his purpose. So, the same thing is true for a parent relationship. God could have you in a situation where, no, you don't have a choice to leave.   But that doesn't mean that you don't find freedom from that person, even if you can't leave. And that's why the book is called Breaking the Narcissist's Grip. It's not called Let's Go No Contact because I just want to be able to break that stronghold that you have over me, even if I am still present.   So now there are going to be other times where Satan is now going to send toxic people into your life, and you're going to think that it's your responsibility. Oh, God has put me here. No, Satan hand-delivered them.   And your job is to apply 2 Timothy 3.1. In the last days, there will be people who are lovers of self, proud, arrogant, boastful, and that list goes on. And what does God tell us to do at the end of that scripture? Avoid such people.   So now Satan sends in a diversion, and we decide that we're going to play Holy Spirit, and we're going to be the ones to be Jesus. We're just going to show them Jesus. No, the enemy is successful, slowly trying to destroy you.   And that's where we have to now put that filter on. So, when you go back, this is a very long answer to your savvy sauce. It's I have to be able to trade what people's expectations or even my expectations would be for what God wants in that moment.   Does he want me to stay in this relationship? What is he looking to do in me and through me? Does he want me out of that relationship?   Am I now codependent? Am I trying to stay in this longer than he called me to? And I'm now suffering the consequences of my choices.   So, in summary, I guess you could say when we stop chasing approval and start walking in alignment with what God wants from us, our life gets a whole lot lighter.   Laura Dugger: (41:22 - 41:57) Wow, Kris, I'm so grateful that you shared all of that and unpacked your answer and let us in on a glimpse of your story. Thank you for walking faithfully through that. And then for modeling that it's it wasn't a black and white answer, but at one time he had you stay and one time he set you free to go.   And I just really appreciate all that you've shared with us. You have an uncanny gift of speaking truth and love. So grateful for you.   Kris Reece: (41:58 - 42:01) Thank you. I greatly appreciate that. Thank you, Laura.   Laura Dugger: (42:03 - 45:44) One more thing before you go, have you heard the term gospel before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you, but it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death, and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved.   We need a savior, but God loved us so much. He made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him.   That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life. We could never live and died in our place for our sin.   This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished. If we choose to receive what he has done for us, Romans 10:9 says, “that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   So, you pray with me now. Heavenly father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to you.   Will you clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare you as Lord of their life? We trust you to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus name we pray.   Amen. If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring him for me. So, me for him, you get the opportunity to live your life for him.   And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So, you're ready to get started.   First, tell someone, say it out loud, get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes and Noble and let me choose my own Bible. I selected the Quest NIV Bible and I love it.   You can start by reading the book of John. Also get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.   We want to celebrate with you too. So, feel free to leave a comment for us here. If you did make a decision to follow Christ, we also have show notes included where you can read scripture that describes this process.   And finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, “in the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.   And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

Toxic Relationships: Recognizing Narcissism in a Spouse, Parent, or Child with Kris Reece (Episode 288)   *Disclaimer* This episode contains mature content and user discretion is suggested.    Proverbs 27:6 AMP “Faithful are the wounds of a friend [who corrects out of love and concern], But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful [because they serve his hidden agenda].”   *Transcription Below*   Kris Reece is a Christian Author, Toxic Relationship Coach, and Manipulation Tactics Specialist. Kris equips believers to escape the grip of toxic relationships—especially those shaped by guilt, confusion, or spiritual distortion. Her work empowers Christians to set biblical boundaries and walk in emotional and spiritual freedom. Connect with her on Instagram or through her website.    Thank you to our sponsor for today's episode: Midwest Food Bank   Topics and Questions We Cover: In your opinion, can you be a Christian and a narcissist? Will you share a few of the toxic tactics narcissists use for power and control in relationships?  Will you define codependency for us and also reactive abuse and trauma bond?   Other Related Episodes on The Savvy Sauce Podcast: 146 Biblical Response to Emotionally Destructive Relationships with Leslie Vernick 148 Overcoming Evil with Good: Recognizing Spiritual Abuse with Dr. Diane Langberg 263. Domestic Violence and Abuse: Identifying and Healing from Abusive Relationships with Stacey Womack   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook or Instagram or Our Website   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV) Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   *Transcription*   Music: (0:00 – 0:10)   Laura Dugger: (0:11 - 1:29) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.   Leman Property Management Company has the apartment you will be able to call home, with over 1,700 apartment units available in Central Illinois. Visit them today at lemanproperties.com or connect with them on Facebook.   My captivating guest for this week is Kris Reece. She has an abundance of resources available online, and she's actually recently had this book published, Breaking the Narcissist's Grip. I cannot recommend this episode enough to you to find out about toxic relationships, whether that's with your parents or your adult children or your spouse. She's going to do a deep dive into narcissism. Help us understand it, help us identify those people in our lives, and most importantly, offer some hope, which is only possible through Jesus Christ. Here's our chat.   Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Kris.   Kris Reece: (1:31 - 1:34) Thank you so much for having me. I am so blessed to be here.   Laura Dugger: (1:34 - 1:48) Well, I am so grateful to have you, and you are in a unique line of work that is so needed. How did you get into this work of offering Christian advice for toxic relationships?   Kris Reece: (1:50 - 4:16) Well, I'll give you the short version of that story. So, I had been in the fitness industry for a good 20 plus years, and I went back to school for counseling and theology because I really wanted to be able to help people emotionally and mentally as opposed to just physically, right?   So, as I started to counsel people, there were women that were coming to me from all walks of life and all ages. I'm talking 16 years old all the way up to 86 years old. And no matter what their issue was, no matter what they were struggling with, they were coming to me for purpose or just growing in their faith. It all came down to one thing. And Laura, I think this might surprise you just as much as it surprised me. Toxic mothers. I was floored. And this wasn't the kind of thing where now we're just blaming mom for everything. No, this started to get revealed on all of the dysfunctions that were taking place within their relationship with their mother and how it had impacted them in so many areas of their lives. So, I said, “Lord, I need to dive deeper into this.” Now, I had already come out of, unfortunately, several toxic narcissistic relationships, not with my mother. So, that was very foreign to me. So, I started to dive deeper into how those same traits applied. And it was sad and it was very scary. So, I started teaching more on that.   And then they started coming out of the woodwork. But what about my husband? What about my daughter? What about my boss? What about my... And it was just like a flood. And it reached a point where, Laura, I got to confess to you. I took this to the Lord and I said, please don't send me. I don't want to do this. This is toxic. It's like you're just dealing with this toxicity all day long. And once I began to rest in, not just talking about the toxic relationships, but understanding where His heart was in it and the healing that He wants, not only for the toxic people, but those weren't the ones that were coming to me, the ones that were affected and infected by it, is when my heart started to shift. I said, “okay, God, all right, send me.” And here we are. Many, many years later.   Laura Dugger: (4:16 - 4:41) Well, you've done some incredible work. And I am shocked by that answer. Can you clarify too with the toxic mothers? That's not speaking to the mom who's trying her best asking the Lord for help and yet making mistakes. Would you consider them as mothers who are narcissists or does toxic embrace a wider?   Kris Reece: (4:41 - 6:01) Toxic can embrace a much wider spectrum. It could be borderline personality disorder, even a lot of codependent traits. If they're not harnessed properly or surrendered to the Lord, it can be very toxic to our relationship. You know, you're dealing with the guilt and the manipulation. No, we are not in any way talking about a mother who's made some mistakes, hands up, who's surrendering all this to the Lord and really just trying to find her way, you know, regardless of whether it's a newborn, an infant, a teenager or an adult child.   That's not what I'm referring to as a toxic mother. And some of them do struggle because it's so common for, I guess, young adults at this point to just be like, my mom's toxic because your mother had an opinion, because your mother is trying to get a little bit more time with you. Now, all of a sudden she's toxic. So, the label is unfortunate, but no, we're not referring to that type of mother. We're talking about the ones that have been approached lovingly and gently and are still standing firm in their manipulation, their guilt, their no, this is my way or the highway, their distorted view of scripture. I don't care if you're two or 42, you're called to obey me. That's the kind of toxic mother we're talking about.   Laura Dugger: (6:01 - 6:13) That is helpful. And then just to zero in on that term, narcissist, can you just help us understand what characteristics define a narcissist?   Kris Reece: (6:14 - 8:00) Yeah, absolutely. So, at its core, narcissism is less about confidence and it's more about this distorted sense of self. And that distorted sense is what damages relationships. Psychologically, narcissism can actually be marked by three pillars.   Number one is an exaggerated sense of self-importance. They quite honestly believe that the world revolves around them. Two is a deep need for admiration. They crave validation and praise, and we call that supply. So, if you're giving it to them, you're on their good side. You're not, you're on the bad side. And then lastly is their lack of empathy. This is a true hallmark of narcissism. But I know you didn't ask this, but we kind of go down a little bit of a rabbit trail.   Now that narcissists are starting to catch on to what these traits look like, they're doing what we call performative empathy. So, they're looking and they're saying all the right words. One of my, I love to say is they got the words, they ain't got the music. So, you really have to understand what true empathy looks like, but they lack empathy. So, and then what happens is from those traits are going to flow three roots, entitlement, arrogance, and manipulation. They twist everything and it's all about them. And one of the things that we need to understand is that a one-time selfish act doesn't make someone a narcissist. I've said some things that, oh boy, that I need to repent of. It doesn't make somebody a narcissist, but a lifestyle of self-protective empathy, lacking behavior at the expense of others. Yeah. Raise the red flag.   Laura Dugger: (8:01 - 8:22) That's helpful. That even shows us the difference between a little self-absorbed or mistakes made and a narcissist. But then I'm also curious as we're raising children, do these traits show up early in life or when are they usually identifiable?   Kris Reece: (8:23 - 10:25) That's a great question. One that I don't think you're ever going to be able to get a solid answer from anyone on, because narcissistic traits, while they don't just appear out of nowhere, we can say that they're formed in childhood. And we can say that probably almost every child is a bit narcissistic. I mean, we don't get like the terrible mind, mind twos from nowhere. I mean, as children, as human beings, I mean, even scripture tells us we are innately selfish. Our heart is deceptively wicked. So, the point of childhood is for the parents to now pull that out of the child, to grow that out. Right. And a lot of times that doesn't take place. So, what we have to understand is that the roots usually form in childhood, but the fruit shows up later in life.   So, in childhood, you may notice things like entitlement, this extreme sensitivity to criticism, but kids, like we said, are naturally self-focused. So, that's actually going to be part of their normal development. So, kids are self-centered by nature, but narcissism becomes very concerning when someone never grows out of it. So, when we start to see by the teen years, you see that pattern take place and how they handle correction, how they handle empathy and accountability. And if empathy isn't growing, but entitlement is, oh, we've got a pretty big sign. So, now by adulthood, those narcissistic traits, they just become unmistakable.   You see the manipulation, the blame shifting, the lack of accountability, the control, especially when life requires any type of humility. So, immaturity says, I messed up. Narcissism says, you made me do it.   Laura Dugger: (10:25 - 11:04) Oh, that's helpful. And I guess just to put parents at ease, if they are parenting, let's say tweens and teens, I'd love to hear your take on this, but something we learned in grad school was that they said, “don't freak out when your child, even when your teen does this, because a lot of times teenagers could be fitting all of the description in the DSM for multiple things.” And that is part of adolescence and going through puberty and everything. But what I hear you saying is then if that pattern continues into adulthood, especially as you're developing certain things, but lacking empathy, that's one big concern. Is that correct?   Kris Reece: (11:04 - 12:07) That is correct. That is why they don't diagnose teenagers with narcissism, because quite honestly, I would say about 98% of them would be diagnosed. So, no, that's why we don't, because a lot of teenagers are that way. So, yes, don't panic if your teenagers are acting that way. But the other thing that I would also say is don't chalk it up to a phase. It's a great opportunity to speak the truth in love. You may not think they're hearing it. You may not think they're receiving it, but we are responsible as parents for obedience, not outcome. Of course, we want the best outcome for our children possible, but we can't just chalk up those traits as, ah, they're just being teenagers. Ah, it's just a phase. No, as your parent, I need to teach you and train you out of that phase, not force you out of the phase, but I need to train you out of that phase. And then the rest is going to be up to them.   Laura Dugger: (12:07 - 12:22) That's good. Knowing who's part to own. And would you say part of that then is disciplining them and discipling them, training them in the ways that we would think of or anything that you would add for how to help train our children out of these characteristics?   Kris Reece: (12:23 - 13:39) Absolutely. So, we do want to train them in the way they're supposed to go. So, when there is entitlement, we don't chalk it up to a phase. We don't continue to give what they're expecting. So, there needs to be consequences for behavior. And I'm not talking harsh punishment, but there's two sides. So, if there is really bad behavior that needs to stop, then there needs to be a consequence for that. On the flip side, if it's behavior that could kind of be borderline, and I don't mean borderline personality, I just mean borderline in terms of is this bad or is this a phase, then it's a talking too.   Hey, why did you decide to handle your classmate in this way? What do you think could have been a better way? What was the point of your outcome? What were you hoping the outcome would be, I should say? And then starting to really guide them through that, because they're still in their very formative years in terms of processing, in terms of how to cope with things. So, if they're now going to start defaulting to patterns that maybe that was taught or caught, we really want to take that opportunity to train them out of that. And we can do that with gentleness and love. And then, of course, use consequences when necessary.   Laura Dugger: (13:40 - 13:52) That is so well summed up, Kris. I appreciate that. And then what are some types of narcissism that make it especially difficult to recognize at first?   Kris Reece: (13:53 - 16:40) Oh, my favorite one. And I say that with seeping sarcasm. Is the covert narcissist. We would call that one the quiet one. And now if you want to add another layer of complexity, the Christian covert narcissist. This one is going to be the hardest type to detect because they don't look confident. They look wounded. They use self-pity. They use guilt. They use this emotional fragility. But they're using it to control others. And what we have to recognize is covert narcissists, they don't dominate the room. They dominate your emotions. They play the victim. So, you now feel responsible for their feelings, their life, their outcome. That's a scary one.   The other one is what we call the communal or we could refer to them as more of the spiritual narcissist. This is what we would refer to as the helper or the holy one. So, they appear really generous. Big servant's heart, maybe in a serving profession. They're spiritually devoted, but it's all about image. And they're going to use the good deeds. They're going to use the faith, the ministry, or their morality as proof of their superiority. And they may quote the Bible, but they will use shame, silence, and scripture to control others.   And the other one is, this is a little bit more of the obvious one, but we often disguise this in our society. And that's the overt. This is your classic narcissist. This is the one that people recognize. They're loud, they're attention seeking, they're boastful, they're arrogant, and they are just outwardly entitled. But we often, depending on the position that they're in, in business or politics, we're like, oh, they're confident. Oh, they're good leaders. They could be classic overt narcissists. And a lot of times these narcissists really go unrecognized because they always, always start with the charm or the kindness. My favorite is the connection. They establish this connection with you. They're gonna mirror your values, your interests, and yes, even your faith. And a lot of times they appear very wounded or generous, and the whole intention is to now just disarm you. Bottom line is a lot of narcissists, they're gonna wear different masks, but at the core, they're all the same.   Laura Dugger: (16:41 - 18:35) And now a brief message from our sponsor.   With over 1,700 apartment units available throughout Pekin, Peoria, Peoria Heights, Morton, and Washington, and with every price range covered, you will have plenty of options when you rent through Leman Property Management Company. They have townhomes, duplexes, studios, and garden style options located in many areas throughout Pekin. And make sure you check out their newest offering; the McKinley located in Pekin is a new construction addition to their platinum collection. Featuring nine-foot ceilings, large spacious layouts, beautiful finishes such as quartz countertops and garages, you won't want to miss this outstanding new property.   In Peoria, a historic downtown location and apartments adjacent to OSF Medical Center provide excellent choices. Check out their brand-new luxury property in Peoria Heights, overlooking the boutique shops and fine dining on Prospect. And in Morton, they offer a variety of apartment homes with garages, a hot downtown location, and now a brand-new high-end complex near Idlewood Park. If you want to become part of their team, contact them about open office positions. They're also hiring in their maintenance department. So, we invite you to find out why so many people have chosen to make a career with them. Check them out on Facebook today or email their friendly staff at leasing@lemanprops.com. You can also stop by their website at lemanproperties.com. Check them out and find your place to call home today.   Do narcissists recognize or ever admit to being narcissists? Can they ever see that in themselves?   Kris Reece: (18:36 - 20:20) That's a great question. And that's actually two-sided. So, the one where I would say no, they don't see that in themselves. They see themselves truly as entitled, as somebody who's been given the short straw, somebody who is owed something, the victim. They honestly don't see themselves as narcissistic.   Then there's another side where they sort of see it and they actually will use that now to their advantage. See, this makes me somebody who is self-reflective. This is somebody who is, I'm willing to recognize where I've gone wrong. But the problem is, there's no depth there. You'll get generalities like, oh, I know I'm not perfect, but, and then you'll get a litany of justifications or you'll, I know I'm not perfect, but all of your sins are now laid out in detail. So, they will, if they do recognize it, they will use it to their advantage.   Now there is that final subset that does start to recognize and they see, I don't want to be this way. Wow, I've caused a lot of destruction to relationships. I do want to change. And that road is really long, really long. But I'm not, I'm not of the camp that believes that narcissists don't change. They can, if they want to. It takes a lot to recognize it. And I've seen some do.   Laura Dugger: (20:22 - 21:11) I appreciate that hope. You don't always hear that very often with this type of personality. But I think one more piece that has always been so confusing to me when loved ones have shared that they're in a relationship with someone who is a narcissist, whether that's their spouse or their parent is where I've been in friendship with people before. But they, all of their stories, no matter where they live in the world, the narcissist seems to struggle with the same things. They seem to act the same way. They're master manipulators. And I just don't understand how they all have the same playbook. And like you say, they lie even when they don't have to. So, as you've thought about this, are there any reasons why it's so similar across the board?   Kris Reece: (21:14 - 23:27) Yes, because by nature, they are, they're lazy. They don't want to put in an effort. And they're also, what word would I use to describe this? It's almost like they're aliens to empathy. So, if you could imagine an alien coming from, I don't believe in aliens, so please don't hear what I'm not saying, but let's just imagine for a moment, you know, they come on this earth and they're like, oh, I got to adapt myself to these people. I got to fit in. What do I do? So, they're going to start listening. They're going to start mimicking behaviors and they're going to start testing to see what works and what doesn't work. So, for them, now we go back to that whole childhood thing. If they've learned that the only way to get what I want is to lie, the only way to get people to see me as XYZ is to manipulate, that's what they're going to do. And they're going to do it by default.   And that's what people don't understand is that default mechanisms are so powerful that even a master manipulator could turn around and say, “you know, I really, I recognize, yeah, I do manipulate a little bit.” And then when push comes to shove, if they have not done the hard work to begin to dig and really understand where it came from, why it's there and start to develop the patterns to override it, they're going to default to the same way every single time.   And that's why they lie so easily. It's just a default. Now, I'm not saying that as an excuse, but it's a default. And what they also don't realize is that this is not just psychological. This is spiritual. Narcissism is fueled by pride, deception, and control. Is that describing anybody we know? That's the enemy to the core. So, it's not that they're all just studying the same playbook. It is that they're all influenced by the same spirit. And that's what we're struggling with.   Laura Dugger: (23:29 - 24:00) Wow. And that really, there was an aha moment, and I wrote this down, kind of what you're saying. But on page 133, you said, “it's like they're demonically inspired or at the very least, influenced.” And I think that makes so much sense. Even the insidious ways that they are cunning or crafty, that they're influenced by our enemy. That makes a lot more sense. Anything else that you would want to add to that?   Kris Reece: (24:02 - 25:36) Yes. When we look at, I hate to, I don't like to label people. But when we look at how the enemy operates, let's look at how Satan operates. Kill, steal, destroy. Control, pride, deception, manipulation. If he is now influencing these people and they are not putting up any of the barriers, they're continuing to give him a foothold. They are now walking in his purpose. So, if Satan is looking to do this to you, why wouldn't his ambassadors? They are highly influenced by his behaviors, and they don't even realize it. So, yes, we can have compassion. We can take this to prayer because any stronghold can be broken. But that's got to be done by the power of Christ.   So, we pray for their eyes to be open. We pray for them to see the wickedness of their ways and give them a desire to turn from it. But you're not going to change that. It's not going to happen, especially when it is so deeply spiritually rooted. Because a lot of times we get caught in the, well, I'm a good person. Well, I would never behave that way. If I knew I was doing that, I'd want to change. So, we think that our explanation alone is really just going to be the aha moment for the narcissist, right? So, we explain, we re-explain, we over-explain. And then what we don't realize is that now we just got caught in that trap as well. We're now playing that game on their turf and we're not going to win. We have got to hand over this spiritual battle to the Lord.   Laura Dugger: (25:37 - 25:54) Okay, so then that makes me wonder, you said that there is hope. So, how is this treatable? You've kind of let us in on a little bit of it, but also can you just share if you have ever seen someone repent or change their ways?   Kris Reece: (25:56 - 28:30) Yes, more than one. I've seen it on more than one occasion. It is a journey. It does not come from you just over loving them and just giving them passes and excuses and being more like Christ. It's usually from what I refer to as a two-by-four moment.   When God just clunks them over the head, everything is lost, everything is gone, and everything that they held so dearly, meaning everything that was holding them up. So, if you can think about narcissists, they can't function on their own. They don't have their own self-identity. They don't have their own self-discipline. They don't have any other self-regulation. They have no sense of self. So, everything is external. So, when God is looking to change somebody, guess what's going to happen? He's going to start kicking out those crutches one by one, and then they're going to get the two-by-four moment, which is that knock over the head, like that road to Damascus experience that Paul went through. It's like, hello, are we going to wake up here?   And that is when they start to have their awakening, and that is when they begin to pursue, hey, I think change might be possible. This is what happens to me. And then in that environment, if they're able to get met with then the love and the compassion, again, not the enabling, then you'll start to see that change begin to unfold. Narcissism is treatable, but not in the way people often imagine. It's not this surface-level behavioral issue. It's not getting somebody to say, I'm sorry, or getting somebody to validate you. It is a deep identity and a heart issue that is rooted in pride. And I don't know about you, there is not enough experience on the planet. I could never take somebody through that. That has got to be a God moment.   And that's where I want to just caution people sometimes, especially if we struggle with codependency, thinking that we are now responsible for these people, that maybe God planted me in their lives for such a time as this. Stop, stop, stop. Guard your heart. Allow God to heal you of what's driving you now to want to fix this person. And truly, truly, if you really love this person, pray for them, go into warfare for them, but hand them over to the Lord.   Laura Dugger: (28:32 - 28:48) Okay, so then another spiritual question, Kris, in your opinion, can someone be a Christian, a true born-again believer, and a narcissist? Ah, I love and I hate this question.   Kris Reece: (28:52 - 32:44) Hilary, you're going to love and hate my answer. Yes and no. So, in one sense, yes. In the sense that somebody can actually profess faith and faith in Christ but still live in a way that looks absolutely nothing like him. And we see this all throughout scripture. But claiming Christ and following Christ are not the same thing. And that's where I believe that there are times where it's no. You know, just because you had an altar moment where some way, somehow your belly was full, you were well rested, the music was just right, and you came to this place of, okay, I'm going to give my life to Christ at the altar, but you continued in your iniquity for the next 30 years. I really have to seriously question your salvation. But it's not my job to question someone's salvation. But I can question your walk. If I'm not seeing the fruit of that walk, I don't know that I can call you a brother or a sister. If you continue to walk in that route of pride and self-exaltation and manipulation, it's not of God. So, there's a difference between a Christian who's struggling and a Christian who's just refusing to admit any of the error of their ways. One of the questions that we really have to ask is, can a narcissist be saved? And the answer to that is absolutely. Jesus came for the broken, the blind, the hard-hearted, every single last one of them. But that transformation is going to require repentance.   So, yes, I think our hope always needs to be in, Lord, you can save them. If you saved a wretch like me, you could save them. So, now what happens is our prayer needs to now shift. Lord, give them a heart of repentance, a willingness to see themselves truthfully and surrender to your work. That's where our prayer now needs to shift. Not, Lord, get them to stop doing this, get them to stop doing that, get them out of here, move them on. Because if it is God's heart that none should perish, it should be our heart that none should perish. But all should come to repentance. So, that's where our prayer needs to be. So, yes, while there is hope, we're not mini-Jesuses. It's not going to happen. It's not our responsibility. Sometimes our responsibility is actually to step out of the way and allow them to suffer their own consequences, because that is what starts to bring a narcissist to themselves. Not always, but oftentimes. You know what it's reminding me of is the scripture in 1st or 2nd Corinthians, I can't remember, is when Paul commanded the young man who was sleeping with his stepmother to be cast out of the church, get rid of him, to send him out. And here's what he said, “Give him over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh.” So, it wasn't like, get rid of him. He's a piece of dirt. We don't want anything to do with him anymore. It's like, okay, if that's the lifestyle he wants to live, then let him live it. And let Satan have his way. So, his flesh is now destroyed. Not him as a person, but his flesh is destroyed. And that's really what narcissists are. They're very fleshly people. I want what I want when I want it, and I'm going to do whatever I can to get it. So, we really want to change our prayer to the Lord, lead them to repentance.   Laura Dugger: (32:49 - 34:01) Updated website, thesavvysauce.com, so that you can have access to all the additional freebies we are offering, including all of our previous articles and all of our previous episodes, which now include transcriptions. You will be equipped to have your own practical chats for intentional living when you read all the recommended questions in the articles or gain insight from expert guests and past episodes as you read through the transcriptions. Because many people have shared with us that they want to take notes on previous episodes, or maybe their spouse prefers to read our conversations rather than listen to them or watch them now that we're offering video rather than just audio. So, we heard all of that, and we now have provided transcripts for all our episodes. Just visit thesavvysauce.com. All of this is conveniently located under the tab show notes on our website. Happy reading.   Will you also share a few of the toxic tactics that narcissists typically use for power and control in relationships?   Kris Reece: (34:02 - 36:33) Yes, actually one of their favorite ones is gaslighting. And I think it's just a word that is so overused and abused, but it is so accurate because it's not just lying, it is denying, it is distorting, and it is rewriting reality with the intention to make you doubt yourself, your memory, your feelings, or even your sanity. Tell me that's not wicked. I don't know what it is. It's manipulation at its finest. And the same with love bombing, which is another one of their tactics. At the start, or not even just at the start, maybe when they recognize that you've had enough, like that's it, I'm putting my foot down, I'm setting boundaries, sometimes they'll come in with that love bombing. And what they do is they start to overwhelm you with the affection and the attention and the promises and the chores and all those things that you've been just fighting for all those years. What they're looking to do is to recreate or recreate that emotional dependency, because it's not about love to them, it's about bait. So, in their mind, they're not going, oh no, I'm losing this relationship. Let me get my act together. It's, oh no, I'm losing control. Let me get him or her back into my clutches. So, those are two of the very common ones.   Another one is projection. You want to know what a narcissist is doing? Listen to what they're accusing you of. That will tell you clearly what they've got going on. Lying, selfishness, anger, cheating, hiding, whatever it is, they want to put you on the defensive instead of facing their truth. So, what it does is it puts the spotlight on you and keeps it off them. So, those are some of the most common tactics that they're going to use. And it's on a spectrum. They will do it to different degrees. They'll do it in different ways to different relationships. But they're always going to do what has worked in the past. So, again, once your eyes start to open, now it becomes more difficult. And now their tactics start to change just a little bit. Remember, they're the alien. They're here. They've now got to figure this out. They're like, oh, this isn't working anymore. So, they're going to try to figure out what does work. And that's where you need to be very careful. Know them by their fruit. Fruit takes time to develop.   Laura Dugger: (36:35 - 36:45) Okay. Even that term gaslighting, I think it can be hard to understand. Can you give an example of what that would look like in a relationship?   Kris Reece: (36:46 - 37:50) Yeah, absolutely. So, you can go to, let's say, your spouse and you tell them, you know, when you said this to me, it really hurt my feelings. An obvious form of gaslighting could be, I never said that. You're misunderstanding me. Now, a lot of times people become savvy enough to have proof. No, no, no. You did say that. See, it's right here. Well, that's not what I meant. And you should know that. If you were a good Christian, you would know that that's not what I meant. You know that I get a little confused. You know that I mix up my words.   And what they're doing is they're trying to distort your feelings instead of just owning. Wow. I didn't intend to make you feel that way, but I could see that it left an impact on you. They will skirt around all of that. They will make you question yourself. They will even deny, they will flat out deny that they said or did anything.   Laura Dugger: (37:52 - 38:26) And I see where this gets so confusing for the person in relationship with them, because there's extra layers that you talk about and even extra tactics, like pathological lying that are added in there too. Yep. But they will flat out deny it. Yeah. Well, there's also a few more terms that I'd love for you to explain, just because they may come up throughout our conversation this week and next week. So, will you define codependency for us and also reactive abuse and trauma bond?   Kris Reece: (38:27 - 43:41) Oh, absolutely. These are all very powerful and they are issues that can leave. I hate to use the word victim because we may be victimized, but if you're in Christ, you are not a victim. You have a hope and a future. God can meet you and do exceedingly abundantly above what you could ask, hope or think. But codependency, reactive abuse and trauma bonds are all very real and they often travel together. But they're different pieces of the same trap.   So, when we look at codependency, this is where your sense of worth or peace now depends on someone else's mood or approval. It's like saying, if you're okay, I'm okay. If you're not okay, I'm not okay. So, I need you to be okay. Okay. And you start to manage other people's emotions instead of your own. And that's when we start to confuse enabling with loving because at the core of it, we want to feel okay and they're not okay. So, we have to get them okay. And that's where that caring now turns into control.   So, now we get into reactive abuse. This is often very misunderstood because this happens a lot in churches. So, I want you to picture this. You have a married couple. Let's just say he is for the, just for the sake of our conversation. There are, there are a lot of female narcissists out there, but let's just say the male is the narcissist and he is gaslighting and he is abusive at home, but it's borderline. It's like, you know, he's a little insulting. He's a bit harsh. He's not loving. He's not nurturing. But boy, when he's at church, oh, he's everybody's pal. He's serving all the time. So, now when they go to counseling, they're sitting in front of the pastor, and she's got years and years and years of this abuse that has taken place. And she's now reacting to it. She's elevated. She's yelling, she's screaming, she's crying. And guess what happens? He's sitting there cool as a cucumber. I really don't understand. I mean, I know I've not been perfect and that's where the reactive abuse is taking place because she's now reacting to all of those years of manipulation and provocation and now questioning her own sanity because she knows what's going on. So, she's got that, what we refer to as cognitive dissonance going on.   She's like, well, wait a minute, he's done this, saying this, this isn't making sense. I know I'm not losing it, but I feel like I'm losing it. And that's what's taking place. So, she just explodes because she has no idea what's going on. Her sanity is in question right now. So, to that pastor, guess who looks like the problem? She does. So, if you would just react a little bit more gently when he brings something to you, you may not have this problem. And if she's a Christian, she's going to go back and recognize the error of her ways, which that is a problem. You know, we are responsible for how we react, but she's owning now all of it. So, now let's take a step back.   What is reactive abuse? It happens when you finally explode after those long periods of manipulation and provocation. The abuser then points to your reaction as the proof that you are the problem. And that keeps the guilt train going.   The trauma bond is what happens with trauma bonds is they form when your brain gets hooked on the cycles of fear and relief. And we also go back to that cognitive dissonance. We're like, oh, wait a minute. Okay, he's this way one minute and he's this way another minute. So, is he good? Is he bad? I don't, I don't, instead of the brain being able to say, he's both, you've got both of this going on and we need to deal with this. We're trying to put either a bad blanket on it or a good blanket on it. So, we get hooked in these cycles in the relationship. And what we're chasing is that constant good time. Maybe we had a great time at the gala and he was so wonderful. He was even kind to me after we got in the car, and those small moments of kindness start to release the dopamine, and they convince you to stay even though the big picture is you're being hurt long term.   It's like the frog in the boiling pot. They don't even realize it. But the good news, codependency, reactive abuse, and trauma bonds, once you recognize these patterns, you can begin to renew your mind, break the cycle and allow the Holy Spirit to retrain your heart towards peace instead of that counterfeit connection.   Laura Dugger: (43:43 - 44:06) Wow. That is so well summed up. And if somebody is recognizing that they're in that cycle or if they're identifying they're in a relationship with a narcissist, do you have a practical first step as we're starting to wind down our time together today? Anything that they could do before they tune in next week?   Kris Reece: (44:07 - 45:13) Absolutely. So, the first thing you're going to want to do is to release these feelings of shame and bringing this before God. Your time right now with the Lord can be precious and incredibly restorative. My hope would be that we take our focus off of them. Yes, I get it. We're starting to identify. We're recognizing. And all that can be very enlightening. But be careful not to fall into the enemy's trap of now overanalyzing, over fixing, over controlling.   Take this before the Lord and say, “God, what are you trying to do in me?” Because for whatever reason, He's allowed this relationship. For whatever reason, He's not allowing you out of it. There's a lot of work that He's going to want to begin to do in you. And this is not to say this is your responsibility, but I promise you at the end of this road, if you walk this with Him, there will be a life that is beyond your imagination. Whether it's in the relationship or not, I'm not sure, but it will be beyond your imagination.   Laura Dugger: (45:15 - 45:24) Thank you again for sharing the hope, Kris. And where can we go in between these weeks if we want to continue learning more from you?   Kris Reece: (45:25 - 45:43) Oh, that'd be great. I would love if you'd jump on over to my website. It's krisreece.com. That's Kris with a K, Reece with a C. And you're going to find a wealth of content and resources, some of them free resources. And it's also where you can find my new book. It's called Breaking the Narcissist's Grip. Or you can just jump on Amazon for that as well.   Laura Dugger: (45:44 - 46:01) Wonderful. We'll add links for all of that in the show notes for today's episode. And you're familiar that we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge.   And so, as my final question for you today, Kris, what is your savvy sauce?   Kris Reece: (46:02 - 47:06) My savvy sauce is going to be very practical. I'm a really practical gal. And this may sound like a cliche, so I want you to kind of stick with me a little bit, but it has changed my life. And that is practicing the pause. In these difficult relationships, whether you were reactive before or not, you are now. And we want to begin to practice that pause because toxic people really want to dictate the emotional temperature of the conversation.   So, before you respond, before you react, before you decide anything, just one pause. And you got to ask yourself this one question. This is what I do. I say, is this led by peace or pressure? And that question has saved me from countless toxic conversations and impulsive decisions. So, before you respond, pause, because peace is always going to tell you the truth faster than pressure ever will.   Laura Dugger: (47:08 - 47:37) Well, so well said. I love that. And you are, I'm just so grateful that you were called to this work and that you did surrender to the Lord. Here I am. Send me with your book and the way that you're communicating today and all of these resources that you put together. I think a lot of people are going to find healing and hope. And that's my prayer as we conclude our time together. But I'm just very grateful for you, Kris. So, thank you for being my guest.   Kris Reece: (47:37 - 47:41) Thank you. Thank you. It's been such a blessing and an honor. I am so appreciative.   Laura Dugger: (47:43 - 51:25) One more thing before you go, have you heard the term gospel before? It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you, but it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there's absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death, and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved.   We need a savior, but God loved us so much. He made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him.   That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life. We could never live and died in our place for our sin.   This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus. We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished. If we choose to receive what he has done for us, Romans 10:9 says, “that if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”   So, you pray with me now. Heavenly father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to you.   Will you clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare you as Lord of their life? We trust you to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus name we pray.   Amen. If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring him for me. So, me for him, you get the opportunity to live your life for him.   And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason. We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So, you're ready to get started.   First, tell someone, say it out loud, get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes and Noble and let me choose my own Bible. I selected the Quest NIV Bible and I love it.   You can start by reading the book of John. Also get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ. I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you.   We want to celebrate with you too. So, feel free to leave a comment for us here. If you did make a decision to follow Christ, we also have show notes included where you can read scripture that describes this process.   And finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, “in the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.   And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

Welcome to Day 2826 of Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me. This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom – Theology Thursday – The Law of Attraction and the Prosperity Gospel: A Biblical Response. Wisdom-Trek Podcast Script - Day 2826 Welcome to Wisdom-Trek with Gramps!   I am Guthrie Chamberlain, and we are on Day 2826 of our Trek.   The Purpose of Wisdom-Trek is to create a legacy of wisdom, to seek out discernment and insights, and to boldly grow where few have chosen to grow before. Our current series of Theology Thursday lessons is written by theologian and teacher John Daniels. I have found that his lessons are short, easy to understand, doctrinally sound, and applicable to all who desire to learn more of God's Word. John's lessons can be found on his website   theologyinfive.com.   Today's lesson is titled:  The Law of Attraction and the Prosperity Gospel: A Biblical Response. In recent years, two teachings have gained wide popularity both inside and outside the church: the Law of Attraction and the Prosperity Gospel. Promoted in self-help books, social media, and even some pulpits, they promise health, wealth, and success to those who follow their formulas. To many, these messages sound like hope in an uncertain world. Yet beneath their appealing surface, both rest on foundations far removed from biblical truth. The Law of Attraction suggests that the universe responds to human thoughts and desires, delivering blessings when individuals focus positively. The Prosperity Gospel teaches that financial abundance and physical well-being are signs of God's favor. Though they sound spiritual, both movements originate outside of Scripture and subtly reshape Christian faith into a pursuit of personal gain. The first segment is: Roots and Historical Background The Law of Attraction grew out of the 19th-century New Thought movement in America. Figures like Phineas Quimby and William Walker Atkinson blended mesmerism, Eastern ideas, and metaphysical speculation. They taught that sickness, poverty, and failure result from negative thinking, while success comes from visualizing the life one desires. These ideas found modern expression in books like The Secret and continue to influence popular culture. The Prosperity Gospel shares similar roots. In the early 20th century, E. W. Kenyon merged Christian language with New Thought ideas, teaching that believers could “speak” health and wealth into existence through faith-filled words. This laid the groundwork for the Word of Faith movement, further developed by preachers like Kenneth Hagin, Kenneth Copeland, and others. With the rise of televangelism and global media, the Prosperity Gospel spread rapidly. Both movements also reflect ancient patterns found in pagan religion, where prosperity was seen as proof of divine approval. Fertility cults promised abundance to those who performed rituals or gave offerings. The Prosperity Gospel repeats this logic, replacing ritual with faith declarations and calling it Christianity. The Second Segment is: Wealth in Scripture The Bible does not condemn wealth, and Jesus never taught that having riches is inherently wrong. What Scripture warns against is trusting in wealth or making it an idol. The love of money—not money itself—is the root of many kinds of evil. Wealth can distract, deceive, and distance people from depending on God. Scripture presents wealth as a test of stewardship. Believers are warned not to place their hope in riches but in God, who provides everything. The rich are called to be generous, to care for the poor, and to use their resources to advance God's kingdom. The accumulation of wealth is never condemned, but hoarding it selfishly or viewing it as a sign of spiritual superiority is. Jesus cautioned that riches can choke out spiritual growth and make it harder to enter the kingdom. Yet He also welcomed the wealthy and honored faithful givers. The issue is not how much one has but where one's treasure lies. Storing up treasure in heaven is the mark of a faithful heart. The third segment is: The True Source of Blessing Biblical blessing is not measured by outward success but by one's relationship with God. Paul declared himself content whether in poverty or abundance because his strength came from Christ. He saw hardship, not comfort, as the training ground of faith. God's promises center on salvation, sanctification, and eternal reward, not financial gain. Trials, sacrifice, and generosity are normal parts of the Christian life. The goal is not to manipulate spiritual laws for personal benefit but to seek first the kingdom of God and trust Him to provide what is truly needed. In Conclusion: The Law of Attraction and the Prosperity Gospel appeal to human desires but distort the message of Scripture. Their roots in paganism, New Thought, and self-focused religion expose them as counterfeits. They reduce God to a cosmic vending machine and faith to a technique for self-enrichment. The Bible offers a better way. Trust in God's providence. Seek His kingdom. Use whatever resources you have to serve others. Whether rich or poor, the true reward is Christ Himself. To further your study, consider these Discussion Questions How does the Prosperity Gospel distort the biblical view of wealth and blessing? In what ways does the Law of Attraction contradict the doctrine of God's sovereignty? What dangers arise when Christian faith is reduced to a tool for personal success? Why is it important to understand the historical and philosophical roots of these teachings? How can believers cultivate a biblical view of contentment and generosity? Join us next Theology Thursday to learn J.R.R. Tolkien's Theological Imagination: Rebellion, Redemption, and the Divine Pattern. If you found this podcast insightful, please subscribe and leave us a review, then encourage your friends and family to join us and come along tomorrow for another day of  ‘Wisdom-Trek,  Creating a Legacy.'                    Thank you so much for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and, most importantly,   I am your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal. As we take this Trek of life together, let us always:                   Liv Abundantly.      Love Unconditionally.              Listen Intentionally.             Learn Continuously.               Lend to others Generously.                 Lead with Integrity.                 Leave a Living Legacy Each Day.                 I am Guthrie Chamberlain, reminding you to,   “Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy your journey, and create a great day, every day!  Join me next time for more daily wisdom!

Pornography is one of the most hidden struggles inside the church today, yet very few pastors openly address it. In this episode of Fearless with Mark & Amber, we tackle difficult but necessary questions about pornography, sexual intimacy within marriage, and what Scripture actually teaches. Is pornography ever acceptable within marriage?
What about creating explicit content between spouses?
Why is the church often silent about this growing issue? Drawing from personal testimony, biblical teaching, and current research, we discuss the spiritual, relational, and cultural consequences of pornography — and how believers can find true freedom through Christ. If the church doesn't address these issues, culture will. This conversation is meant for married adults and mature listeners, and offers biblical encouragement, accountability, and hope for those seeking restoration. In This Episode • The growing pornography problem inside the church 
• Why many pastors avoid discussing sexual sin
 • Biblical teaching on intimacy within marriage
 • Can pornography ever be justified in Christian marriage? 
• The dangers of bringing worldly sexual practices into the home 
• The spiritual leadership role of husbands 
• How addiction and secrecy destroy marriages
 • Biblical freedom and transformation through Christ Resources & Links Mentioned Pornography in the Church ➡ https://www.barna.com/?s=pornography&media_type=* Answers Women Conference (Ark Encounter) 
➡ https://answersingenesis.org/outreach/event/answers-for-women-2026-weekday/ Worldview Matters Conference – Green Bay
 ➡ https://davidfiorazo.com/worldview-matters-conference/ Fearless Features 
➡ https://www.fearlessfeatures.org Partner in the Mission
 ➡ https://donorbox.org/stand-boldly-for-truth-support-principalities Pick up Mark's autobiography—Compromised: A Prodigal's Journey Home ➡ https://a.co/d/0fpYLUME Subscribe Subscribe so you never miss new episodes exploring the intersection of faith, family, and culture. ⚠️ Content Note: This episode discusses adult topics related to sexual sin and pornography and is intended for mature audiences.

In this reaction video, Vince Miller examines a viral sermon clip from Texas politician James Talarico that is circulating online. In the clip, Talarico argues that the debate over abortion is not about life but about personhood. While the argument may sound thoughtful and compassionate at first, it raises serious theological and biblical questions. In this breakdown, Vince slows the clip down and compares the teaching directly with Scripture. What does the Bible actually say about human life, personhood, and the unborn? Does Christian theology support the arguments being made in this sermon? Using passages like Genesis 1:27, Psalm 139, Jeremiah 1:5, and 1 Corinthians 6:19–20, this video explores the biblical view of human dignity, the image of God, and the authority of Scripture over cultural ideology. The goal of this reaction is not outrage, but discernment. Christians are called to test every teaching against the Word of God. If you want to learn how to think biblically and evaluate sermons carefully, this video will help you do exactly that. Test what you hear. Open the Word.

Across the Church today there is increasing accusation, exposure, and controversy. While some exposure is necessary because God brings hidden things into the light, the way believers respond in these moments determines whether the result leads to healing or deeper division.In this episode of Heroes Arise, Robert Hotchkin explores the biblical response to accusations and controversy in the Church. Drawing from Scripture, he shares how believers can stand for truth while guarding their hearts, their words, and their perspective.Rather than responding with bitterness, outrage, or accusation, Scripture calls us to walk in discernment, humility, prayer, and truth. When we respond biblically, we become part of God's solution instead of contributing to division.If you have been wondering how Christians should respond to the controversy happening in the Church today, this episode offers a clear biblical framework rooted in Scripture.====================Subscribe to the Heroes Arise podcast for prophetic insight, biblical teaching, and encouragement to help you walk in spiritual authority and maturity.

Recently, Theologian Dr. Darrell Bock gave a seminar to church leaders and pastors on engaging the culture and cultural intelligence. Slides from his presentation were posted on social media and, at face value, the verbiage is... problematic. Dr. Tim Stratton and Josh Klein are joined by Reverend Dr. Tom Barnes to discuss why this is concerning and to break down what we can and should do about it.   Full Disclosure: None of the three were at the event, so this commentary is meant to be directed towards the public-facing verbiage that could either a) be easily misconstrued, b) be misremembered in our current culture moment by people in attendance and applied using definitions based on critical theory rather than a biblical worldview, and/or c) were taught poorly in the first place and no explanation or nuance would make it better.   Join our team - https://www.freethinkingministries.com/donate Questions? Remarks? Contact us: https://www.freethinkingministries.com/contact The Theology of Voting Article referenced: https://www.freethinkingministries.com/post/theology-and-voting-loving-our-neighbors-at-the-ballot-box ➡️ CHAPTERS ⬅️ 00:00 Introduction 05:11 Breaking Down the Slides 07:06 Embrace Empathy and Compassion? 20:31 Embrace Listening and Another's Story? 28:50 Avoid Zero-Sum Tribal Thinking? 36:23 The Gospel Offers Hope, Of course... AND 39:53 Are People REALLY the goal? 44:45 Satan's Goal is to Divide Us However He Can? 47:46 People as Image Bearers VERSUS What They Do? 54:30 The Race Conversation Been Hijacked by Sexuality? 1:01:10 Focus on Commonalities VERSUS Differences? 1:07:37 Tone MATTERS?!? 1:17:30 Satan's Goal Isn't Division, It's Destruction 1:21:11 Talk Less, Show More? 1:27:00 Why Biblical Definitions Matter When Talking About Flourishing 1:32:00 Truth and Love are Linked and Concluding Thoughts ➡️ SOCIALS ⬅️ Website: https://freethinkingministries.com acebook: https://www.facebook.com/FreeThinkInc Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freethinkinc X: https://x.com/freethinkmin TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@freethinkinc #Apologetics #FreeThinking #Christianity

In this episode of Cultish Reaction, Andrew is joined by Colin Samul to critically examine the recent release of the Epstein files. Together, they discuss how to discern truth from misinformation, the dangers of emotional reactions, redacted documents, and the role of due process—especially for Christians committed to truth, justice, and biblical ethics. The conversation also explores spiritual darkness, historical patterns of evil, and where hope ultimately lies in Christ's sovereign justice.SHOP OUR MERCH: HEREPlease consider subscribing to our YouTube Channel: CultishTV.comCultish is a 100% crowdfunded ministry. 

On today's Podcast we share what the bible says about immigration and the borders of our nations.  Speaker Mike Johnson put out an article out making the biblical stance, and we share that as well today.  

When spiritual heroes fall, what happens to our faith—and that of our children? Financial manipulation and abuse within the church can leave deep wounds, shaking the foundation of trust and faith for entire families. In this powerful episode of Christian Parent/Crazy World, host Catherine tackles one of the most urgent and painful issues affecting Christian families today: how to respond when trusted church leaders become charlatans, using their position for financial—or even sexual—exploitation. With real-life stories, audio clips, and biblical insight, this episode equips parents to guide their children through disappointment without abandoning the truth of the Gospel. Joining Catherine is featured guest Clifton Payne Jr., pastor, writer, Hebrew University scholar, and author of What the Bible Really Says About Tithing and Giving: It’s Different Than You Think. Having left the faith for fourteen years after witnessing financial abuse firsthand, Clifton Payne Jr. brings both scholarly expertise and personal experience to this heart-wrenching discussion. What You’ll Discover in This Episode: Financial Abuse—A Widespread Scandal: Hear stories of pastors manipulating the vulnerable, including Clifton Payne Jr.’s grandmother and infamous televangelists promising “seed money” blessings for thousand-dollar gifts. Charlatans Across Denominations: It’s not just one stream of Christianity; financial and sexual misconduct strike churches everywhere—from charismatic circles to mainline denominations to the Catholic church. The Impact on Faith and Family: Discover why these betrayals don’t just hurt individuals—they threaten the faith of the next generation. Catherine lays bare how hypocrisy often drives children and parents alike away from church and sometimes, from God. Biblical Wisdom for Difficult Days: Get to the heart of the Bible’s teachings on money, tithing, and generosity. Clifton Payne Jr. strips away manipulation, revealing how God’s desire for our hearts is profoundly different from the “prosperity gospel” sales pitch. Honest Conversations at Home: Learn how to talk with your children about church scandals—without letting cynicism win. Public harm requires public correction, and as Christian parents, we are called to shepherd our homes by telling the truth. Why This Matters:This episode will challenge, grieve, and encourage you to see beyond the headlines and scandals. It’s a reminder that our faith must be rooted in Christ, not in flawed messengers. When parents grapple honestly with church failures and model God-honoring generosity, they provide children with a foundation that lasts beyond any scandal. Modern Application:Christian parents, are you prepared to shepherd your children through disappointment in the church? Are you modeling discernment, generosity, and faith that isn’t shaken by human failure? About the Guest:Clifton Payne Jr. is a pastor, writer, and biblical scholar with advanced study at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. His experiences with church financial abuse and long journey back to faith uniquely equip him to address manipulative money tactics and help families find biblical clarity in confusing times. His book, What the Bible Really Says About Tithing and Giving: It’s Different Than You Think, is available on Amazon and other major booksellers. EPISODE LINKS: Clifton Payne Jr.’s Book: What the Bible Really Says About Tithing and Giving: It’s Different Than You Think Subscribe to Catherine's resources for Christian parents on her website. Mike Winger’s Expose on Shawn Bolz & Bethel Church: The Skeletons in Bethel’s Closet Are Now Going to Speak Televangelists: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Call to Action:How are you preparing your children to discern truth in a world full of spiritual counterfeits? What honest conversations could you start this week—even in the face of heartbreak—to root their faith in Jesus, not fallen heroes? Tune in next week as Catherine and Clifton Payne Jr. dig deeper into what the Bible really teaches about tithing and giving—setting your family free from confusion and manipulation. Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

This week: UK Revival Claims Questioned: A new Pew Research study challenges recent claims of spiritual revival among young adults in the UK, suggesting that opt-in surveys may be misleading and random sampling shows Christian identification is actually declining, not increasing.Social Media Child Safety: Social media giants face a landmark legal case regarding child safety, raising important questions about platform accountability and the protection of minors online.Posthumous Sperm Retrieval Ethics: Families of slain Israeli soldiers in Gaza are retrieving sperm from their bodies for posthumous reproduction, sparking complex ethical discussions about consent, grief, and reproductive technology.Harry Potter Generation Politics: The Harry Potter generation is being called to rethink their politics as they mature into adulthood.Keeping Marriage Strong Forever: Listener Q&A addresses keeping marriages strong over decades with advice to never stop working on your relationship and consider having more children.Biblical Response to Tragedy: A nurse in Minnesota asks how to biblically process the tragic events surrounding ICE enforcement, including the death of Alex Pretti. ==========Think Biblically: Conversations on Faith and Culture is a podcast from Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, which offers degrees both online and on campus in Southern California. Find all episodes of Think Biblically at: https://www.biola.edu/think-biblically. To submit comments, ask questions, or make suggestions on issues you'd like us to cover or guests you'd like us to have on the podcast, email us at thinkbiblically@biola.edu.

In this episode, Brody will approach the immigration debate by asking a better question: what does the Bible actually require of us? We clarify biblical categories, separate compassion from chaos, and explore how justice, order, and human dignity fit together. With Old and New Testament insight, we move past slogans toward faithful, practical ways to love our neighbors lawfully, wisely, and with the gospel at the center.Send us a textPlease leave a review on Apple or Spotify to help improve No Sanity Required and help others grow in their faith. Click here to get our Colossians Bible study.

4 Responses Revealing Your Spiritual Maturity 1 - An Effective Introduction (19) 2 - The Effect of Anger (20-21) 3 - The Effect of Hearing (22-25) a - A Biblical Response (22) b - An Unbiblical Reflection (23-24) c - A Blessed Result (25) 4 - The Effect of Speech (26-27)

"Medical Atonement: A Biblical Response to a Modern Heresy," Bobby James | Sunday School by Evangelical Fellowship Church

Needgod.net released a video listing 10 reasons not to convert to Catholicism. Joe focuses in on #6, The Catholic Priesthood, and shows that it is indeed the biblical priesthood instituted by Christ. Transcript: Joe: Welcome back to Shameless Popery. I’m Joe Heschmeyer and many Protestants believe that the Catholic priesthood is unbiblical, that it’s not something that is authentic to Christianity. And this was recently raised by Ryan of needgod.net as one of his 10 reasons not to convert to the Catholic Church. Now, I might at another point in time address the other nine reasons, ...

A full biblical response to sin involves repentance, forgiveness for sins committed but also a forward looking step which is removal of that which causes or leads to sin. Get a FREE copy of our eBook "What Really Happens After Death?" Full details are at this link: http://eepurl.com/ddB0yb Photos by Unknown author is licensed under CC BY-NC.​ https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/

By Craig Scott - A full biblical response to sin involves repentance, forgiveness for sins committed but also a forward looking step which is removal of that which causes or leads to sin.

Today we explore the theology of contentment, challenging believers to stop calling their sin a "personality trait" and start fighting for the peace that only comes from a life fully surrendered to God's sovereignty.RESOURCES:Master marital communication: https://speak.fiercemarriage.comTake the 31-Day Pursuit Challenge: https://31daypursuit.comPray for your spouse with intention: https://40prayers.comTo learn more about becoming a Christian, visit: https://thenewsisgood.comThis ministry is entirely listener-supported. To partner with us, visit https://fiercemarriage.com/partner Good news! You can now find FULL video episodes on our YouTube channel, The Fierce Family. Visit https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkyO4yVeRdODrpsyXLhEr7w to subscribe and watch. We hope to see you there!

Is Israel still central to Biblical prophecy, or do God's promises no longer apply to the Jews? How should the church respond to Israel, and how should America treat the Jewish nation? Learn more as Pastor Wes Denham looks into the Scriptures to explain what the Bible tells us.

In this raw and urgent episode, Ryan and Selena respond directly to a viral clip from Dr. Emerson Eggerichs (Love & Respect) where he calls out wives who “continually mock their husbands,” put them down mentally, and secretly make fun of their opinions.If you've ever caught yourself thinking, “He's just not the man I thought I married” … this episode is for you.We dive deep into:The devastating long-term fruit of a disrespectful speech and a critical spirit (Prov 21:19, Prov 27:15)Why even “small” condescending comments, eye-rolls, and corrections are spiritual poisonGenesis 1–2 and Ephesians 5:22–33 – God's original design for husbands to WORK and wives to RESPECTThe moment a wife stops seeing her husband “in his element,” her view of him becomes dangerously incompleteThe 4 C's every wife must confront: What are you Consuming? Who are you Consulting? Who are you Complaining to? It's time to CUT it out.The 200-year plan: How today's sarcasm and discontent become tomorrow's bitterness, affairs, or divorcePractical steps to break the cycle: Repent to God → Repent to your husband → Replace criticism with gratitude → Renew your mind daily (Romans 12:2)Husbands: this isn't permission to be passive. A wife's biblical respect flows most naturally when her husband loves her as Christ loves the church. We talk about that too.Whether you're the wife struggling with disrespect or the husband feeling crushed under constant criticism—this episode will challenge and encourage you toward the fierce, gospel-centered marriage you both long for.Scriptures covered: Genesis 1–2, Ephesians 5:22–33, Proverbs 21:19, Proverbs 27:15–16, Romans 12:1–2Resources mentioned: → Join the Fierce Men brotherhood (YouTube + private community)→ Fierce Fellows on Patreon – exclusive marriage content→ Partner with Fierce Marriage: https://fiercemarriage.com/partnerIf this episode hit home, text it to a friend who needs it. Leave a rating/review—it truly helps more couples find biblical hope.Have a question? Call or text 971-333-1120 — we may answer it on the air!#ChristianMarriage #RespectYourHusband #Ephesians5 #LoveAndRespect #StopNagging #BiblicalWife #FierceMarriage

In this episode of The Truth Changes Everything Podcast, Dr. Jeff welcomes Kasey Leander for a timely conversation on antisemitism, political turmoil, and how Christians can respond with clarity, courage, and compassion. As global tensions rise and public discourse becomes increasingly polarized, many believers are asking: What does a faithful, biblical response look like? Kasey brings historical insight, cultural awareness, and gospel-centered wisdom to help us navigate these challenging times without fear or compromise. Whether you're a parent, pastor, student, or someone trying to make sense of the headlines, this conversation will help you think deeply and respond faithfully. Subscribe for more weekly conversations that equip you to navigate culture with a Christian worldview.

Allie exposes Texas' rebranded Islamic enclave “The Meadow” — formerly EPIC City — warning of Sharia's creeping dominance in America. She contrasts Islam's conquest ideology with Christianity's gospel of peace, urging bold resistance without fear. Allie also brings attention to the 10-year anniversary of the Bataclan Massacre in France. And amid darkness, Christian music surges, reshaping culture with musicians like Forrest Frank and Brandon Lake. And we also take a look at the shift in priorities between conservatives and progressive men and women when it comes to getting married and raising a family. Even Kelsea Ballerini knows what's going on, as her new single "I Sit in Parks" strikes a chord with women who fell for feminism. Join us to reject toxic empathy, stand for biblical truth, and celebrate God's unstoppable redemption plan. Buy Allie's book "Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion": https://www.toxicempathy.com --- Timecodes: (00:00) Introduction (04:30) The Texas Muslim-Only Compound Rebrands (32:30) A Biblical Response to Islam (40:00) Bataclan Massacre (49:30) The Rise of Christian Music (53:45) Kelsea Ballerini's New Song (01:00:30) Priorities of Young Men & Women --- Today's Sponsors: A'del — Try A'del's hand-crafted, artisan, small-batch cosmetics and use promo code ALLIE 25% off your first time purchase at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠AdelNaturalCosmetics.com⁠⁠⁠ Good Ranchers — Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠GoodRanchers.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and subscribe to any of their boxes (but preferably the Allie Beth Stuckey Box) to get free Waygu burgers, hot dogs, bacon, or chicken wings in every box for life. Plus, you'll get $40 off when you use code ALLIE at checkout. Hillsdale College — Hillsdale College is offering more than 40 free online courses they offer on History, Economics, Politics, Philosophy, and more, all available for FREE. Go to Hillsdale.edu/Relatable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to enroll. Seven Weeks Coffee — Save up to 25% with promo code 'ALLIE' & get up to four FREE gifts this Christmas season: ⁠⁠ SevenWeeksCoffee.com Pre-Born — Will you help rescue babies' lives? Donate by calling #250 & say keyword 'BABY' or go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠PreBorn.com/ALLIE⁠⁠⁠⁠. Keksi Cookies — Send a taste of home this holiday season with Keksi: soft, thick, handcrafted cookies made with the best ingredients. Keksi ships nationwide! Order yours at Keksi.com with code ALLIE15 for 15% off. --- Episodes you might like: Ep 1255 | Jihad vs. Jesus: Islam's Plan to Conquer Christian America | Raymond Ibrahim https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/relatable-with-allie-beth-stuckey/id1359249098?i=1000732327165 Ep 1223 | The Forrest Frank Formula: Why Christian Music is Trending | Dr. Raymond Lynch https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-1223-the-forrest-frank-formula-why-christian-music/id1359249098?i=1000719536332 Ep 1115 | Islam Taught Her to Hate Christians — Then She Became One | Guest: Lily Meschi ⁠https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-1115-islam-taught-her-to-hate-christians-then-she/id1359249098?i=1000680609640 --- Buy Allie's book "You're Not Enough (& That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love": https://www.alliebethstuckey.com   Relatable merchandise – use promo code 'ALLIE10' for a discount: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Allie dismantles “feminist” smears on X over her Turning Point LSU speech, boldly affirming women's biblical roles: prioritizing home, submitting in marriage, serving in church, and speaking truth publicly. Scripture, not culture, defines womanhood. She also lifts up Angel City FC's Elizabeth Eddy in her fight for women's sports and keeping trans ideology off the soccer field. Join us to reject judgment, embrace God's design, and live with fearless faith in every sphere. Buy Allie's book "Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion": ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.toxicempathy.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ --- Timecodes: (00:00) Intro (03:10) Turning Point USA Speech (13:15) Most Common Criticisms (17:40) Mislabeled as a "Feminist" (24:40) Jubilee Debate Performance (29:55) Biblical Response (40:10) Power of Self-Control (51:20) Encouragement to Women (1:00:00) Elizabeth Eddy --- Today's Sponsors: Good Ranchers — Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠GoodRanchers.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and subscribe to any of their boxes (but preferably the Allie Beth Stuckey Box) to get free Waygu burgers, hot dogs, bacon, or chicken wings in every box for life. Plus, you'll get $40 off when you use code ALLIE at checkout. Jase Medical — Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Jase.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and enter code “ALLIE” at checkout for a discount on your order. Pre-Born — Will you help rescue babies' lives? Donate by calling #250 & say keyword 'BABY' or go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Preborn.com/ALLIE⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Fellowship Home Loans — Fellowship Home Loans is a mortgage lending company that offers home financing solutions while integrating Christian values such as honesty, integrity, and stewardship. Go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://fellowshiphomeloans.com/allie⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get up to $500 credit towards closing costs when you finance with Fellowship Home Loans. Constitution Wealth Management — Let's discover what faithful stewardship looks like in your life. Visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠Constitutionwealth.com/Allie⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a free consultation. --- Episodes you might like: Ep 1260 | Charlie Kirk's Replacement & Jen Hatmaker's Shocking Paganism https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/relatable-with-allie-beth-stuckey/id1359249098?i=1000734097800 Ep 1254 | Jubilee Reaction: How to Debate 20 Liberal Christians https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/relatable-with-allie-beth-stuckey/id1359249098?i=1000732041086 Ep 1236 | Mom of 10 on How to Order Your Day & Raise Godly Kids | Abbie Halberstadt https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-1236-mom-of-10-on-how-to-order-your-day-raise/id1359249098?i=1000724064460 Ep 796 | Former Lesbian Activist Calls “Soft” Christians to Repentance | Guest: Rosaria Butterfield https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-796-former-lesbian-activist-calls-soft-christians/id1359249098?i=1000610921016 --- Buy Allie's book "You're Not Enough (& That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love": ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://alliebethstuckey.com/book⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠   Relatable merchandise – use promo code 'ALLIE10' for a discount: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Join us as Pastor Judah shares some truths about death and how we respond to it. 

I'm recording from the road in Canton, Ohio, because this can't wait. We're watching anti-Semitism re-enter mainstream discourse, and it's more than politics—it's a theological drift. I walk you through Scripture (Romans 11, Genesis 12:3), explain how “replacement theology” sneaks in under trendy slogans, and call the Church to clarity, courage, and civic stewardship. Bring your Bible and a pen—this is a wake-up episode.Prime Sponsor: No matter where you live, visit the Functional Medical Institute online today to connect with Drs Mark and Michele Sherwood. Go to homeschoolhealth.com to get connected and see some of my favorites items. Use coupon code HEIDI for 20% off!Lifestone Ministries | Lifestoneministries.com/heidiEquipping The Persecuted Coffee | ETPcoffee.comShow mentions: heidistjohn.com/mentionsWebsite | heidistjohn.comSupport the show! | donorbox.org/donation-827Rumble | rumble.com/user/HeidiStJohnYoutube | youtube.com/@HeidiStJohnPodcastInstagram | @heidistjohnFacebook | Heidi St. JohnX | @heidistjohnFaith That Speaks Online CommunitySubmit your questions for Fan Mail Friday | heidistjohn.net/fanmailfriday

Will There Be a Christian Super Bowl Halftime Show? … GUEST Kelsey Kramer McGinnis … worship correspondent for Christianity Today … coauthor of “The Myth of Good Christian Parenting” and writes broadly on Christian music and the intersection of American Christianity and popular culture. A Biblical Response to the Immigration Crisis … GUEST Dr Richard Gamble … professor of Systematic Theology at Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (RPTS), Point Breeze. The Way of the Prophet … GUEST Rev Terry Timm … Christ Community Church of the South HillsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and while we wish this wasn't something we needed to talk about, it's a heartbreaking reality—even among those who profess faith in Christ. In this powerful and eye-opening episode, Leslie speaks directly to women who are suffering in silence, helping them understand the truth about domestic abuse through a biblical lens. If you've ever been told to pray harder, submit more, or suffer silently for the sake of your marriage, this episode is a must-listen. With over 45 years of counseling experience, Leslie shares how abuse shows up in both obvious and subtle ways and offers practical, faith-based guidance for identifying abuse, responding wisely, and reclaiming your safety, dignity, and voice. Key Takeaways Domestic Abuse is Always Sin Domestic violence isn't just about physical harm—it's any pattern of dishonoring behavior, including emotional, verbal, spiritual, financial, and sexual abuse. Abuse is never justified, never excusable, and always sinful. God's Word calls us to honor one another as His image-bearers, and repeated harm without repentance is not just sinful—it's destructive. You Are Not to Blame Abuse is not a response to being provoked. Everyone gets frustrated, but each of us is responsible for our own actions and words. Ephesians reminds us: “In your anger, do not sin.” An abuser's choice to harm is not your fault. You are not to carry the blame for someone else's sin. Biblical Headship is Not About Control True biblical headship is never about domination or coercion. Biblical submission must be freely chosen—not forced. When power is used to silence, manipulate, or intimidate, it is no longer leadership; it is oppression. God's heart is always for the oppressed, not the oppressor. God Cares About Your Safety The Bible does not ask you to stay in harm's way. Proverbs 27:12 says, “The prudent see danger and take refuge.” God values your safety and sanity more than keeping up appearances. From Rahab to baby Jesus fleeing Herod, Scripture supports wise action to protect life and wellbeing. Speak the Truth and Allow Consequences Ephesians 5:11 tells us to expose the unfruitful deeds of darkness. Enabling sin through silence is not biblical. Loving your enemy doesn't mean tolerating abuse or reconciling without repentance. True change involves confession, visible repentance, and bearing the weight of consequences. Even David, though forgiven, faced the loss of his child as a result of sin. Healing Starts With Truth and Safety Are you feeling overwhelmed or unsure about what to do next? Start by taking one brave step toward truth and safety. Begin building a safety plan, speak up to someone you trust, and don't be afraid to set boundaries. Romans 12:21 reminds us, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” You are not powerless. Choosing what is good might mean leaving, telling the truth, or finally saying "no more." If this episode spoke to your heart, and you realize you need help navigating a destructive marriage, please know you're not alone. We offer faith-based support and resources to help you move forward with courage and clarity. Visit https://leslievernick.com/guide to get your Quick Start Guide now. Dear friend, God does not call you to suffer in silence. You are His beloved daughter, worthy of safety, love, and respect. Abuse breaks the covenant—not you seeking safety. Take heart. You are not alone, and with God's help, healing and freedom are possible. May you find the strength to speak truth, seek safety, and walk forward in faith, one brave step at a time.  

What is Third Man Syndrome—a hallucination of the mind, or evidence of something greater? In this episode, we explore the psychological explanation for the “unseen companion” people report in moments of danger and compare it with a very familiar story found in the Bible. From explorers to survivors, many have felt a mysterious presence—but the Bible points us to the Fourth Man in the Fire who stood with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Join me as I uncover why God's presence isn't just psychological comfort, but real deliverance in the heat of life's trials.Breathe. Carry what matters. Leave the rest. Stay mindful.Connect with me --> https://drmatmonharrell.bio.link/Music provided by PodcastleWritten by Dr. Matmon HarrellSubscribe. Share. Rate.A thousand thanks!drmatmonharrell.bio.link Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Pastor Stephen Martin shares powerful firsthand accounts from South Korea and Israel in this special Culture Review episode. Listen as he recounts visiting imprisoned Pastor Song, who stood against government overreach and LGBTQ ideology, and his experience in Jerusalem during historic peace negotiations.Hear how the South Korean church continues despite their pastor's imprisonment, why Christians and Jews must strengthen their alliance, and what these global events mean for American believers. Perfect for your commute or workout, this episode provides urgent wisdom for navigating cultural chaos with biblical confidence.✅ What you'll discover:✅ The parallels between South Korea's leftist takeover and America's challenges✅ How persecution reveals true faith versus cultural Christianity✅ Biblical foundations for supporting Israel amid propaganda✅ Why prosperity weakens churches while pressure strengthens them✅ Practical lessons from global spiritual warfareJoin Pastor Stephen and Pastor Nate for this eye-opening conversation about standing firm when governments turn hostile and culture demands compromise. New episodes Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 7 AM CT.

Greg McDaniel - 9/14/2025

Last week's murder of Charlie Kirk has been challenging for many Christians. How should we Christians think about the assassination of Charlie Kirk?I found this sermon by Pastor Dave Peterson helpful. Delivered on September 14 as, Spiritually Formed: By Mercy, I hope you find comfort and insight in it as well.Elton

In this somber and important episode of Holy Disruption, host Heather Schott is joined by Pastor Jasmine Weiler and Pastor Les Cody to discuss the tragic events of September 11th and the assassination of Charlie Kirk on September 10th, 2025. The conversation dives into how these events reflect a deeper spiritual battle in America, emphasizing the need for unity, boldness, and the power of prayer in the body of Christ. The episode includes heartfelt discussions on the importance of humility, the spiritual state of the nation, and the pivotal role of the church in leading revival and reformation. Join us as we explore how to respond with faith and courage in these trying times.

Acts 6: 1 - 7

Today on the C-Suite for Christ Podcast, we charge straight into the fire—illegal immigration. Not for the faint of heart. Not for the culture of comfort. But for bold believers who refuse to be silent.This isn't about politics. This is about biblical mandate. About seeing every immigrant as a soul made in the image of God—and refusing to let lawlessness or elitism define our response. We call out garbage, we expose hypocrisy; we stare down dehumanizing language and spineless silence.The world will mock. The critics will howl. But Jesus is still King, and His Word still draws the line between truth and compromise.Will you shrink back—or stand up? What will you do when your faith collides with the cultural firestorm?Buckle up. This one's raw, real, and rooted in the everlasting Word.Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. (Romans 13:1-2)Key Takeaways:05:42 - When you say that immigrants exist to, quote, wash dishes or pick fruit. You're not praising their work ethic. Instead, you're degrading their humanity. You're telling an entire class of people, you basically exist to serve me. It's the same evil spirit that drove slavery. It's the same elitist mindset that says, I'm better than you, and your value is in what you do for me and people like me. That's not love. That is not advocacy. That's dehumanization. And it's sinful and unbiblical. 07:26 – Whether these folks cross the river legally or illegally, their life has value. Their story matters. But that doesn't mean that their actions are right. And believe me, we're going to get to that coming up here later in the podcast. But for now, I just want to say this: If we as Christians cannot look at an immigrant and say, That's a man or woman created by God with purpose, with value, and with dignity, then, man—we've lost the gospel. We've replaced it with nationalism, not Christianity.31:18 – The immigrant's worth is not based on how well they can scrub a toilet. Their value is not measured by how fast they can pick a strawberry. Their identity is not rooted in your convenience. Their value is rooted in the image of God. Period. James 3:9 rebukes those who curse human beings who have been made in God's likeness. That includes when you curse them with low expectations, when you curse them with degrading language or curse them with exploitative policies. So what should Christians do in the face of this? We should speak out. Which is exactly what we're doing on this episode of the C-Suite for Christ podcast. Connect with Paul NeubergerWebsite 

Matt Slick Live (Live Broadcast of 08/28/2025) is a production of the Christian Apologetics Research Ministry (CARM). Matt answers questions on topics such as: The Bible, Apologetics, Theology, World Religions, Atheism, and other issues! You can also email questions to Matt using: info@carm.org, Put "Radio Show Question" in the Subject line! Answers will be discussed in a future show. Topics Include: Should We as Christians Support The Nation of Israel?/ Email Questions—What is "The Word of Wisdom" and "The Word of Knowledge?/ Can a Christian be Demonically Possessed?/ Current Social Issues, and The Biblical Response/ 1 Tim. 4:10--How Should We Understand The Doctrine of Limited Atonement?/Understanding That Sin is Equated with Legal Debt/The Granting of Faith/ August 28, 2025

This year's Essence Festival of Culture sparked heated debate over representation, cultural ownership, and diaspora unity. Some attendees felt the event shifted away from its Black American roots, while others embraced its broader Pan-African focus. In this episode, we examine the controversy through the lens of Scripture—asking how the gospel speaks to questions of identity, culture, and unity. From Ephesians 2 to Revelation 7.

A priest who entered a same-sex civil union was recently reinstated to active ministry—promoted to parish leadership, school oversight, and even the diocesan marriage tribunal. All this, despite a public record of LGBT advocacy and no clear public repentance. In this video, I explore the deeper issue: What happened to the biblical standards for ministry? […]

A priest who entered a same-sex civil union was recently reinstated to active ministry—promoted to parish leadership, school oversight, and even the diocesan marriage tribunal. All this, despite a public record of LGBT advocacy and no clear public repentance. In this video, I explore the deeper issue: What happened to the biblical standards for ministry? […]

Today, we're waving goodbye to Joe Biden's administration as he departs the White House to make way for President-elect Trump. Of course, he couldn't help getting one last jab in at the incoming administration in his farewell address. But to commemorate, we go over our bottom five lowlights of his administration. Also, AOC went on a weird rant about "trans girls" after the House passed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act. And Andrew Tate is once again trending, and we're here to remind everyone why, in fact, he is not someone to aspire to. At least Carrie Underwood will be singing at the inauguration, and nobody should have anything bad to say about that, right? Buy Allie's new book, "Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion": https://a.co/d/4COtBxy --- Timecodes: (02:53) Senate confirmation hearings update (05:25) Biden's farewell address (13:00) Lowlights of Biden's presidency (22:43) AOC on the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act (28:42) The danger of Andrew Tate  (55:07) Carrie Underwood singing at the inauguration ---   Today's Sponsors: Lumen — If you want to take the next step in improving your health, go to https://www.lumen.me/RELATABLE to get 20% off your Lumen. Patriot Mobile — go to PatriotMobile.com/ALLIE or call 972-PATRIOT and use promo code 'ALLIE' for a free month of service! My Patriot Supply — Prepare yourself for anything with long-term emergency food storage. Get your 4-week Emergency Food Kit at PrepareWithAllie.com and get $50 off. --- Links: EXCLUSIVE: FEMA Official Ordered Relief Workers To Skip Houses With Trump Signs: https://www.dailywire.com/news/exclusive-fema-official-ordered-relief-workers-to-skip-houses-with-trump-signs --- Related Episodes: Ep 990 | Taylor Swift's Blasphemy & Title IX Betrayal | Guest: Kristen Waggoner https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-990-taylor-swifts-blasphemy-title-ix-betrayal-guest/id1359249098?i=1000653375778 Ep 1103 | Laken Riley's Murder Trial: Chilling Details & Why It Matters | Guest: Dr. Albert Mohler https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-1103-laken-rileys-murder-trial-chilling-details/id1359249098?i=1000677527288 Ep 840 | A Biblical Response to Andrew Tate https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-840-a-biblical-response-to-andrew-tate/id1359249098?i=1000621556867 Ep 953 | Andrew Tate Is Wrong About Marriage | Guest: Dr. Brad Wilcox https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-953-andrew-tate-is-wrong-about-marriage-guest-dr/id1359249098?i=1000645909138 Ep 1123 | Why Boys Are Failing Kindergarten | Guest: Dr. Leonard Sax https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-1123-why-boys-are-failing-kindergarten-guest-dr/id1359249098?i=1000684140603 ---   Buy Allie's book, You're Not Enough (& That's Okay): Escaping the Toxic Culture of Self-Love: https://alliebethstuckey.com/book Relatable merchandise – use promo code 'ALLIE10' for a discount: https://shop.blazemedia.com/collections/allie-stuckey Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices