Anxious Faith

Self-awareness is something that we all need; in order to be healthy, loving, thriving people, we need to understand a bit about ourselves and how we interact with other people, the world around us, and even God. And, for those of us who struggle with our mental health, learning how and why we function and react to things the way we do can be a key part of working towards healing. 

But is there a point where leaning into self-awareness is actually just…selfish? Tinged with pride, and putting too much emphasis on ourselves? 

Today we’re chatting with Steve Mitchell from the UK, who works as the Senior Vice President of the European branch of our organisation, Our Daily Bread Ministries. Steve is also an Executive Coach who has a passion for helping people have transformative conversations. His goal through coaching is to help people grow in self-awareness so that they can ultimately become healthier members of their communities — and the broader body of Christ.

We’ll hear what coaching is, how it works, and whether there’s a point when spending too much time thinking and talking about ourselves is actually selfish… and unhelpful. Steve also gives us a practical example of a coaching session using a real scenario to help us all learn how we can have better conversations with people in our lives that lead to greater self-awareness and the ability to better understand, love, and care for each other.

Let’s dive in.

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Through this podcast and our other resources, our heart here at Anxious Faith is to spark conversation and tackle the taboos around mental health in our churches and faith communities. Will you help us do that? 

We’d be grateful if you would consider supporting us, whether through prayer, sharing our resources in your circles, or contributing towards our ministry costs.

We’d also love to connect with you on socials, where you can join the community, check out our other resources and see behind the scenes content from our team.

When someone is struggling with their mental health, whether that’s dealing with stress, anxiety, or a diagnosed mental health condition, it’s not just them who feel the effects of it —  there’s often a flow on effect to the people around them; their partner, children, family, friends, colleagues… The list goes on. 

So what’s it like to be struggling with your mental health, only to feel the added weight—and often, guilt—of knowing that what you’re dealing with is also impacting the people you love? How do you navigate those dynamics when there are seasons of your life when you’re more vulnerable and in-need than you’re comfortable with?

Today we’re chatting to Erin, a mum of two girls from Tennessee in the US, who has dealt with significant periods of anxiety, depression, and suicide ideation which led to multiple hospitalisations and in-patient therapy stays. 

We’ll hear not only about Erin’s journey and the role of her faith amidst the challenges she’s faced, but also what it’s been like to deal with the added guilt of seeing what her mental illness was doing to her husband and children. 

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Erin Mount is a lover of God who writes about faith, suffering, and mental health. If she’s not spending time with her family, watching Gilmore Girls or reading, she’s probably napping. Read more from Erin on our blog in ‘When My Thoughts Lie to Me’, and check out her Substack here.

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Through this podcast and our other resources, our heart here at Anxious Faith is to spark conversation and tackle the taboos around mental health in our churches and faith communities. Will you help us do that? 

We’d be grateful if you would consider supporting us, whether through prayer, sharing our resources in your circles, or contributing towards our ministry costs.

We’d also love to connect with you on socials, where you can join the community, check out our other resources and see behind the scenes content from our team.

CW: Keola’s story covers his struggles with self-harm and suicide ideation, so please be wise as you listen and mindful of who you’re listening with.

Today we’re hearing the story of Keola, a young guy from Las Vegas in the US who thought he was living the dream — scouted out of high school for Division 1 baseball college, and on his way to making it as an athlete. But moving to that college wasn’t the highlight he was expecting it to be, and instead, it became a time of anxiety, fear, and dread. 

As Keola fought against these newfound mental health challenges, they worsened; leaving him feeling lost and alone. He fought against thoughts of suicide, and turned to unhelpful ways of coping — including trying self-harm, which became addictive. 

Though Keola’s mental health struggles aren’t all over now, his testimony is one of immense hope. Through his darkest periods, Keola has experienced God’s grace and deliverance in incredible ways and, while his struggles have never entirely gone away, he’s able to proclaim the goodness of God in all circumstances.

In his own words, he shares with us: “I’ve gotten a lot closer to God because of my suffering… because I know He’s going to show up, and I know if I lean on Him, He’s going to make a way.” 

Keola shares his story today with the prayer that it might bring hope to anyone suffering through similar circumstances, and understanding to those who haven’t experienced this.

When you’re done listening, you can read this piece written by Keola on our blog: To the Christian Who Self-Harms.

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Through this podcast and our other resources, our heart here at Anxious Faith is to spark conversation and tackle the taboos around mental health in our churches and faith communities. Will you help us do that? 

We’d be grateful if you would consider supporting us, whether through prayer, sharing our resources in your circles, or contributing towards our ministry costs.

We’d also love to connect with you on socials, where you can join the community, check out our other resources and see behind the scenes content from our team.

“Nothing is certain except death and taxes,” or so the saying goes. But there’s something else that we’ll all face in our lives, regardless of our background, finances, upbringing or culture: suffering.

Whether it’s suffering brought on by mental illness, physical illness, financial pressure, issues with relationships or family or any number of other things, at some point in our lives, things are going to be hard. Messy. Painful. 

When we face suffering, it’s easy to wonder where God is. We can feel lonely, isolated … even abandoned by Him. Why is this happening to me?, we ask. How can a good God let me suffer?

So what do we do, knowing we’ll face suffering?

Today we’re chatting with Dr Katherine Thompson, who we heard from back in Episode 18 on the topic of Christ-Centred Mindfulness.

Katherine has written a new book called The Discipline of Suffering, and that’s what we’re going to chat to her about today; the idea of suffering, and how to work our way through it as followers of Jesus.

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Through this podcast and our other resources, our heart here at Anxious Faith is to spark conversation and tackle the taboos around mental health in our churches and faith communities. Will you help us do that? 

We’d be grateful if you would consider supporting us, whether through prayer, sharing our resources in your circles, or contributing towards our ministry costs.

We’d also love to connect with you on socials, where you can join the community, check out our other resources and see behind the scenes content from our team.

Video games can be a contentious topic. There are the people who love them, and those that don’t — or simply can’t understand the appeal. And then there are the stories we hear in the media about gaming addiction, social isolation, and a growing concern for the way gaming seems to lead to a whole range of mental health challenges.

So, what do we think? Does gaming affect our mental health? 

Perhaps it’s not quite so black and white.

Today we’re chatting with Jacob, a life-long gamer, who shares how gaming has affected his mental health — both negatively and for the better. Jacob now runs a ministry seeking to reach one of the groups least represented in the church—gamers—and build off their existing hobbies and interests, providing positive opportunities for social interaction and inviting gamers into spaces where they might also encounter Jesus. 

We’ll hear Jacob’s journey and discuss the bigger picture of gaming, as well as what we might need to watch out for in this space as Christians. We’ll also be joined by a familiar voice, Maddy from our team—who’s an outsider to the world of gaming—to give our conversation a range of different experiences.

Jacob started a non-profit called The Big LAN for gamers in Australia to come together, meet like-minded people, and form long-term friendships. The Big LAN is a Melbourne-based community and currently the largest LAN event in Australia. To check it out, click here.

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Through this podcast and our other resources, our heart here at Anxious Faith is to spark conversation and tackle the taboos around mental health in our churches and faith communities. Will you help us do that? 

We’d be grateful if you would consider supporting us, whether through prayer, sharing our resources in your circles, or contributing towards our ministry costs.

We’d also love to connect with you on socials, where you can join the community, check out our other resources and see behind the scenes content from our team.

When we think of non-physical problems that affect people, we’re pretty immediately drawn to the common ones — anxiety, depression, and the realm of mental illness. But there’s something just as insidious that can cause significant issues to our mental wellbeing, quality of life, and faith. It’s loneliness.

There are some mind-boggling statistics around loneliness. One in four adults around the world report feeling lonely. Our ministry recently did a study of 18-35 year olds here in Australia, and 44% of the overall respondents reported struggling with loneliness and a lack of connection.  But why is loneliness a growing issue? What are its impacts? And, more importantly, what can we as individuals—and the broader church—do to combat loneliness? 

Today we’re diving into it with Kimberly Smith, a pastor, speaker, and author of a book on singleness in the church who is passionate about this topic. 

To get in touch with Kimberly, read her blog, check out her book ‘What We Cannot Be Alone: Understanding Singleness in God’s Family’ or see where she’ll be speaking next, you can visit her website.

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Through this podcast and our other resources, our heart here at Anxious Faith is to spark conversation and tackle the taboos around mental health in our churches and faith communities. Will you help us do that? 

We’d be grateful if you would consider supporting us, whether through prayer, sharing our resources in your circles, or contributing towards our ministry costs.

We’d also love to connect with you on socials, where you can join the community, check out our other resources and see behind the scenes content from our team.

You think of a CEO and you probably picture someone who has it all together. They’re out there speaking in front of audiences, resolving high-level disputes, and running companies. 

But what’s happening behind the scenes? Is it possible that even CEOs can wrestle with mental illness?

Dr Matt Lucas is the President and Global CEO of Our Daily Bread Ministries, whom Anxious Faith is a part of — yep, we’ve got the big boss on today. From being thrust into leadership roles to tasting career success at an early age, Dr Matt looked like he had it all together. But inside, his reality was a little different. Despite the face he put on for work, he wrestled with high levels of stress, anxiety and depression, which grew harder and harder to hide.

In this episode, Dr Matt shares vulnerably about how his mental health struggles caught up with him and caused some significant issues. We’ll hear what led to that point, how he faced and worked through these struggles, and how they’ve impacted him as a leader today.

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Through this podcast and our other resources, our heart here at Anxious Faith is to spark conversation and tackle the taboos around mental health in our churches and faith communities. Will you help us do that? 

We’d be grateful if you would consider supporting us, whether through prayer, sharing our resources in your circles, or contributing towards our ministry costs.

We’d also love to connect with you on socials, where you can join the community, check out our other resources and see behind the scenes content from our team.

This episode, we’re chatting with Josh, a young Aussie guy who was first exposed to pornography at the age of eight. For years, Josh’s addiction to porn grew and had a hold on his life, affecting his mental health, sense of worth, relationships with others, and faith. 

Over the years, Josh tried everything to break his addiction. He sought accountability from parents, friends and pastors, met with counsellors, restricted his phone and computer access, read books and paid for addiction courses… To no avail. Despite trying his hardest to beat the addiction, it persisted — for more than 15 years.

So what changed? How did Josh eventually find freedom from the grip of a porn addiction? Join us to find out. 

Note: For the sake of time we’ve had to cut out parts of Josh’s story to fit into this episode, so if you want to hear his full interview, you can check it out on our YouTube channel below.

Finally, we’ll be taking a short podcast break while we work on more episodes, but we’ll have new things coming out on our website and socials in the meantime, so make sure you’re following us on socials and subscribed to our mailing list to stay up to date!

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If you’re struggling with addiction yourself—whether that’s to pornography or something else—please reach out to someone for help. That could be a friend, family member, your pastor, doctor or counsellor. If you’re not sure who you can talk to, please visit our helplines page for a list of organisations you can contact. Otherwise, a quick google search for addiction support in your area should help.

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Anxious Faith website

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Anxious Faith is a production of Our Daily Bread Ministries

Self-harm is something we’ve touched on a few times through different people’s stories, but today, it’s our main focus. 

What leads someone to self-harm? Does it really feel ‘good’ at the time? And how does someone who’s been addicted to self-harm stop? 

In this episode, Gabby Wilkinson from Dear God I’m Sad shares about her journey with depression, which led her to trying self-harm. Soon after, she found the urges to hurt herself were difficult to suppress, and the more she continued down that path, the fiercer the addiction to it became.

So what changed for Gabby? How was she able to stop, and what has she learned through it all—about self-harm, her mental health, and ultimately, her faith? What would she say to someone who’s currently wrestling with self-harm, or to the person supporting a loved one through the struggle?

Find out with us.  

Content Warning: We’re not discussing the act of self-harm in any detail, but you will be hearing Gabby’s lived experience of wrestling with it. Please use your discretion and be wise about who may be around as you listen.

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If you found this episode helpful, you might like to check out Episode 12 - Was God There During My Depression, Self-Harm and Suicidal Thoughts? and Episode 16 - Surviving Being Suicidal.

You may also be encouraged by these stories on our blog, To The Christian Who Self-Harms and My Healing From Depression Came Slowly.

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Anxious Faith website

Follow us on Instagram

Follow us on TikTok

Subscribe on Youtube

Support Anxious Faith

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Anxious Faith is a production of Our Daily Bread Ministries. If you’re struggling with trauma or addiction yourself, please talk to someone to seek help. That might be a friend, family member, pastor, or your doctor. If you’re in Australia or New Zealand, there’s a list of helplines you can call here.

We're exploring how different approaches to counselling and psychology line up with what we’re taught in the Bible. To do that, we’re chatting with Noni Potter, the Head of Undergraduate Counselling at Tabor, a Christian college in Australia.

Not only is Noni a lecturer in counselling, but she’s also practised privately and has been involved in church ministry for many years. She’s passionate about combining her faith with evidence-based psychological methods which, she believes, echo God’s truths.

Through our chat with Noni, we’ll learn about some of the common approaches to therapy, such as CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), ACT (acceptance-commitment therapy), EFT (emotion-focused therapy), and SFBT (solution-focused brief therapy), and hear how many of these are “rediscoveries” of what God has already shown us through His Word.

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Noni has written a book called ‘Living Your Best Life: Keys to Freedom and Wholeness’, which integrates the restorative power of a relationship with God with evidence-based psychological tools. You can find her book here.

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Anxious Faith website

Follow us on Instagram

Follow us on TikTok

Subscribe on Youtube

Support Anxious Faith

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Anxious Faith is a production of Our Daily Bread Ministries. If you’re struggling with trauma or addiction yourself, please talk to someone to seek help. That might be a friend, family member, pastor, or your doctor. If you’re in Australia or New Zealand, there’s a list of helplines you can call here.