Everyone has doubts about God but it’s hard for us to talk about them. But when we don’t talk about them, it actually weakens our faith in Him. In this episode, we explore how honest questions can strengthen, not weaken, our connection with God. Inspired by Niki Hardy’s new book, God, Can We Chat?, Barb and Niki discuss embracing doubts as the start of a deeper, more authentic faith. Come as you are and discover the unrelenting love of a God who welcomes your questions.

 

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

Connect with Niki on Instagram

Connect with Niki on Facebook

God, Can We Chat? A Daringly Honest Guide to Growing Closer to God, One Doubt at a Time

Visit Niki's Website

 

ABOUT OUR SPECIAL GUEST

 

Niki Hardy is a proud Brit (now living in the US) and the author of the Audi Award–nominated Breathe Again and One-Minute Prayers for Women with Cancer. Niki has been featured on the Hallmark Channel, Life Today, and Premier Radio. 

 

Having left corporate life, been to seminary, moved continents, planted churches, started businesses and nonprofits, and navigated loss, cancer, church hurt, and painful uncertainty, she firmly believes God loves a cheerful doubter. Niki lives in North Carolina with her husband and ridiculous Doodle, Charlie, who is the main reason their three grown kids come home. Learn more at NikiHardy.com.

 

We all know that we should rest but let’s be honest, most of us don’t. How do we learn how to slow down in a world that keeps getting faster and faster? Barb talks with her friend and bestselling author, Laura L. Smith, about her new book, The Urgency of Slowing Down, and Laura gives practical wisdom on what you need to eliminate and what you can add to help you resist the frantic and hold on to peace and calm.

 

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

Connect with Laura on Instagram

Connect with Laura on Facebook

The Urgency of Slowing Down: Biblical Wisdom for Everyday Renewal

Visit Laura's Website

 

ABOUT OUR SPECIAL GUEST

 

Laura L. Smith is a popular speaker and best-selling author tearing down the lies we’re bombarded with so we can live in Christ’s truth. Her previous books include Holy Care for the Whole Self: Biblical Wisdom for Mental and Spiritual Well-Being and Restore My Soul: The Power and Promise of 30 Psalms. 

 

A fan of coffee, chocolate, music, books and travel, Smith speaks around the country sharing the love of Christ at conferences and events. She describes her work like this: “I tell stories (through writing and speaking) in hopes of helping others discover what took me so long to see: God’s amazing grace is abundant and free for the taking. We can’t earn it. And we don’t have to. All we have to do is accept it. And when we do, surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives.”

 

She lives in the picturesque college town of Oxford, Ohio, with her husband and the youngest of their four kids (the other three are off on their own awesome adventures). There you’ll find her running the wooded trails, strolling the brick streets, teaching local Bible study, shopping at the Saturday morning farmer’s market, or going on a sunset walk with her family.

 

Is sexual abuse part of your story? You are not alone and healing is possible!

 

Join Barb for a conversation with certified sex addiction therapist and trauma specialist, Tabitha Westbrook, as they discuss Tabitha’s new book Body & Soul, Healed & Whole. Tabitha is a nationally known expert who will share her personal story of abuse and her healing journey. This gentle yet compelling conversation will provide a safe and compassionate place for you to see the heart of God for you and begin your process of healing whether you are single, married or single again.

 

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

Connect with Tabitha on Instagram

Connect with Tabitha on Facebook

Body & Soul, Healed & Whole: An Invitational Guide to Healthy Sexuality after Trauma, Abuse, and Coercive Control

Visit Tabitha's Website

 

ABOUT OUR SPECIAL GUEST

 

Tabitha K. Westbrook, LMFT-S, LCMHC-QS, LPC-S, LPC, is a licensed counselor supervisor, EMDRIA Certified Therapist, EMDR Approved Consultant, Certified Sex Addiction Therapist (CSAT), and Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP). She also is the founder and CEO of The Journey & The Process, a counseling clinic with offices in Texas and North Carolina. Tabitha and her team specialize in complex trauma with a focus on domestic abuse and coercive control, topics on which Tabitha is a nationally known expert and speaker. In addition to providing training to churches, therapists, and agencies, she helps train domestic abuse advocates through Called to Peace Ministries.

If you are anything like me, prayer can be a bit of a tricky subject at times. Why do we emphasize the positive answers to prayer and not the practice of getting to know God in prayer? What does God want you to know about prayer that will help you draw closer to Him?

Join me for a solo episode as I share insights from my new Bible study, Matthew: Pray Like This, about discerning God's revealed will, permissive will and sovereign will. I'm also sharing three prayer principles that reflect Jesus' teaching in Matthew 7:7 that help us to ask, seek and knock to know God more.

 

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

Pray Like This Bible Study

Prayer Board Kit

Prayer Resource Page

 

Join Barb and her guests, Chad and Adaeze Brinkman, to discuss their new book, White Boy Black Girl. As an interracial couple, Chad and Adaeze discovered that they each carried their own unique baggage into their relationship and had to make the decision to fight through the awkward and uncomfortable moments, even when they wanted to run in the opposite direction.

 

If there are people in your life that you are struggling to understand or whose differences can at times feel like too much to handle, this episode is for you. Join Barb and the Brinkmans for a fun and uplifting conversation about how the gospel of Jesus can bring us together, even when our differences threaten to break us apart. 

 

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

Adaeze and Chad's Book - White Boy/Black Girl: What Our Differences Can Teach Us, One Honest Conversation at a Time

 

ABOUT OUR SPECIAL GUEST

Chad and Adaeze Brinkman are a married couple who intentionally live out their passion of sharing the Gospel of Jesus together in their community. Adaeze works in the creative arts and Chad is a physical therapist. They love traveling and adventuring together, taking in the beauty of God's creation and encouraging others to do the same.

Once upon a time, purity culture promised young Christian girls that all they had to do was save themselves for marriage and their lives would be happily ever after. However, decades later the fairytale of purity culture has turned into a nightmare of consequences for millennial and Gen X Christian women carrying the abuse and pain from a man-made construct that failed to focus on God’s truth. 

 

Join Barb for her conversation with Dr. Camden Morgante as they discuss the 5 myths of purity culture and give voice to the spoken and unspoken pain that many of you experience today whether it’s sexual dysfunction within a marriage, shame from premarital sex or perhaps even broken marriages because of the toxic purity culture indoctrination as teenagers. 

 

Our prayer is that you find hope, healing and freedom from today's conversation and can move forward with both confidence to believe that you are loved and conviction to live in a way that honors our good God.

 

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

Connect with Dr. Camden on Instagram

Connect with Dr. Camden on Facebook

Recovering from Purity Culture: Dismantle the Myths, Reject Shame-Based Sexuality, and Move Forward in Your Faith

Visit Dr. Camden's Website

 

ABOUT OUR SPECIAL GUEST

 

Dr. Camden Morgante is a licensed psychologist with nearly 15 years of experience as a therapist and college professor. She owns a private therapy practice focusing on women’s issues, relationships, sexuality, trauma, and spirituality, and is a frequent speaker. Dr. Camden’s mission is to help Christians heal their faith from toxic beliefs. She is the author of Recovering from Purity Culture. Dr. Camden lives in Knoxville, Tennessee, with her husband and their daughter and son.

Do you struggle with what to pray? You aren’t alone if you’ve called out to God in life’s desperate moments and wondered if He’s listening. My friend, God hears your prayers, even the most desperate ones. 

 

Join Barb and author Rachel Wojo for a conversation about uncovering the powerful secrets of desperate prayers. As she has lived through the loss of her parents and adult special needs daughter, Rachel will teach you simple 3-word prayers to deepen your trust in God.

 

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

Connect with Rachel on Instagram

Connect with Rachel on Facebook

Desperate Prayers: Embracing the Power of Prayer in Life’s Darkest Moments

Visit Rachel's Website

How To Be A Prayer Warrior For Your Family In Dark Times FREE Class!

 

ABOUT OUR SPECIAL GUEST

 

Rachel Wojo is an inspirational author, speaker, and podcaster. Through her biblical approach and personal life experiences, Rachel empowers women to discover strength and hope in everyday situations. Despite enduring the loss of her mother, adult special needs daughter, and father, Rachel remains resilient. Rachel is deeply in love with her husband, Matt, and cherishes her motherhood with six children on earth and two in heaven.

How do we rebuild our lives after our hopes and dreams fall apart? Whether it’s the loss of a job, a loved one, a relationship, or even our faith, when the sun comes up the next morning, how do we find our way? 

 

After several miscarriages and the sudden death of her husband, author Dawn Sanders opened her Bible and discovered buried treasure in Genesis 1 about how God can bring new beginnings and create fresh starts. If you’ve felt broken, stuck, or you’re struggling today, join Dawn and Barb for this episode and find hope again!

 

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

Connect with Dawn on Instagram

Connect with Dawn on Facebook

When Your World Ends: God's Creative Process for Rebuilding a Life

Visit Dawn's Website

 

ABOUT OUR SPECIAL GUEST

 

Dawn M. Sanders (MDiv, Bethel Seminary) is a Bible teacher, author, and associate minister at First Baptist Church of Glenarden International (FBCGI), where she serves as the director of the sermon-based life groups ministry. Her passion is expository teaching and sharing that combines her deep scholarship with practical application to help women rebuild their lives. Her debut book, When Your World Ends: God’s Creative Process for Rebuilding a Life, offers hope and guidance for those facing life’s most challenging seasons.

Raising a girl in today’s world to follow Jesus is possible! However, if you are a mother, grandmother, auntie, pastor’s wife, or small group leader, you need a brand new set of tools to train your beautiful young women in today’s culture. 

 

Join Barb and her friends Shannon Popkin and Lee Nienhuis, authors of Teen Comparison Girl, for a brand new conversation equipping you to raise confident, strong Jesus-loving girls in a world that is going after them harder than ever with destructive lies. Make sure that you share this episode with your Christian friends raising daughters!

 

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

Connect with Shannon on Facebook and Instagram

Connect with Lee on Facebook and Instagram

Comparison Girl for Teens: Thriving Beyong Measure in a World That Compares

Visit the Comparison Girl Website

 

ABOUT OUR SPECIAL GUESTS

 

From the platform, page, and podcast mic, Shannon Popkin invited you to open your Bible, drink deeply of God's story, and live like it's true. Shannon's other books include Control Girl, Comparison Girl, and Shaped by God's Promises. Shannon also hosts the Live Like It's True Bible podcast and has been featured on Revive Our Hearts, FamilyLife Today, The Gospel Coalition, and Proverbs 31.   

Lee Nienhuis is an author, speaker, and passionate Bible teacher whose love for the Lord and the Word is contagious. Lee serves as a Communications Specialist, ministry coach, and consultant for many churches and non-profit organizations. With a heart for Inductive Bible Study and missions, she speaks domestically and abroad communicating a dynamic vision for the next generation and biblical literacy.  Lee’s books, Brave Moms, Brave Kids: A Battle Plan for Raising Heroes and Counter-Cultural Parenting are a clarion call for parents who are looking to raise whole hearted Christ followers in this generation. 

 

 

Social media can be the most amazing mission field if you know how to leverage it. Instead of being discouraged by its negativity and destructiveness, join Barb and social media expert Becky Robinson to learn how to make social media a tool for ministry. Becky shares 4 inspiring commitments that you can apply to your social media platform. As a result, you may discover how to become the light of Jesus in our online world.

 

RESOURCES FROM THIS EPISODE

Connect with Becky on Instagram

Reach: Create the Biggest Possible Audience for Your Message, Book, or Cause

Visit Becky's Website

Weaving Influence Website

 

ABOUT OUR SPECIAL GUEST

 

Becky Robinson is the Founder and CEO of Weaving Influence, a full-service digital marketing agency specializing in digital and integrated marketing services and public relations for authors, business leaders, coaches, trainers, speakers, and thought leaders. Since launching over a decade ago, the firm has provided a wide range of services to help clients launch more than 250 books, enabling authors to build their brands, acquire more business customers, and increase book sales.

Becky hosts the Book Marketing Action Podcast, where she shares actionable advice to help authors achieve their goals to reach more readers and enhance their brand.

In April 2022, Becky published her first book with Berrett-Koehler Publishers titled, “Reach: Create the Biggest Possible Audience for Your Message, Book, or Cause,” which takes an in-depth look at what it takes to achieve the greatest possible influence, provides valuable advice for targeting key audiences, offers a variety of practical steps for cutting through the noise, shares best practices for cultivating community, and reveals effective strategies for growing an online presence.