And Sons

The stunning images of two-time, award-winning Northern Ireland photographer Steven Hanna has captured the imagination and praise of countless people...including Sam and Blaine. Fascinated by his unique take on nature photography, they reached out to discuss his passion, vision, and process. Steven reveals how he learned to see what most of us miss, why being outdoors makes him come alive, and the essential way light shapes everything.

SHOW NOTES: To view Steven Hanna's photographs, visit https://nebofineart.co.uk/

We do our best to distance ourselves from our problems. To keep them at bay, we try to go faster. Jump to the next project or friendship. Or explain away our feelings. But eventually the pressure becomes too great and the cracks appear. This is about what happens when you stop believing the story you've been telling yourself about why you are the way you are...and begin the healing process of becoming who God made you to be.

It's the start of a new year...and all-new podcasts with Sam and Blaine. But rather than just dive in, they first share how they spent their furlough. It's a transparent look at naming and addressing the issues that surfaced from the pressure cooker of two brothers constantly working together...as well as the new frontiers that God is inviting each of them into. The result is a fresh chapter for AndSons, birthed from a time of deep healing and restoration.

2020 is pretty much a wrap. For most, that couldn't happen soon enough. But the changing of years never automatically changes us or our circumstances. If we want to like our lives more, it requires sacrifice and intention. James Baxter is the Executive Director of Exodus 90, a ministry that's taken tens of thousands of men through a 90-day ascetic program of fasting, deep communion with God, and self-denial. It's a brotherhood of ordinary men from around the world...all on a path to greater restoration and freedom. Originally recorded in 2019, this conversation reveals ancient practices that lead to more space for God—and more life.

Most of us are coming into this Christmas having experienced some mix of loss and disappointment from the strange year known as 2020. But the answer isn't to downgrade your hopes for what's still possible this season. Sam and Blaine serve up some much-needed holiday cheer and encouragement while asking a few questions that just may change how you view the past year...and this Christmas.

Picking up where last week's podcast left off, Sam and Blaine talk about Advent promises fulfilled—and those yet to come. The consumerism, stress, and distractions of this season can leave us empty and weary. But Advent counters that by reminding us that the story of Christmas isn't past tense but rather still unfolding. It is a holy season of both remembrance and anticipation. That is the hope of Advent.

It's Advent season. A time of hopeful anticipation. And yet it's hard to even say the word "hope" without simultaneously feeling the pain of deep disappointment, dreams delayed, and real loss of this year. In the first of this two-part series, originally recorded in 2019, Sam and Blaine look at how our longing for Jesus to come again opens the door for true hope.

Some storms are beyond our control. But the ones that hit hardest are often relational storms of our own making. Sam and Blaine reveal how to prevent the turbulence that often sabotages our friendships. Doing so requires us to invite God into our relationships—knowing he alone can help us choose redemption over gratification or self-interest with those that matter most. The result isn't just better relationships. It transforms our friendships into the very shelter we need to weather the chaos coming against us. In these isolating times, find new ways to strengthen your relationships and be a better friend to those in your world.

How does adversity impact our bodies and sense of worth? Luke Eldredge joins Blaine in the studio to share his story of long-term injury, the resulting shame, and eventual triumph. Discover why our bodies affect our lives rather than our lives affecting our bodies, ways to push through the "pain cave" of physical (and other) limitations, and how persistence leads to restoration.

The question isn't whether we have pain. We have plenty. It's where are we taking it and how are we medicating it? But running from the pain never works. Nor does trying to numb it. Sam and Blaine offer a better alternative. Facing it. Through real life examples, they share how it's possible to press in and grow during the hard times—not after the storm passes, but right in the eye of it. So come on, don't waste your pain.