Episode 007 – Who Are Your Friends?

Originally recorded: July 17, 2006

Part of the Almost Daily Devotional series

This episode was sparked by a clip from author Donald Miller, who shared a statistic that stunned me:

Within six months of becoming a Christian, most people lose all meaningful relationships with those who aren’t believers.

Someone told me that was good news.

I told them it was heartbreaking.

In this devotional, I reflect on:

I also open up about how my work in podcasting—particularly with the Lost fan community—was a huge turning point in my ability to connect with people not like me.

This one was a shift.

Not just in mindset. In mission.

I believed the church had trained people to withdraw in the name of “purity.”

That we were losing our voice, our relevance, and our ability to love people well.

I believed we had become far more like the Pharisees than we wanted to admit—only trusting those who affirmed our beliefs.

I still held to an evangelical framework. But even then, I believed that relationship—not programmatic evangelism—was the path to transformation.

I no longer use “believer” and “non-believer” as categories that determine who’s worth my time.

I now know that every person carries the divine image.

That people don’t need to agree with me to be holy.

And that I don’t need to evangelize to justify love.

I trust that presence is more powerful than persuasion.

That healing happens in proximity.

And that God is just as present in the bar as in the Bible study.

Today, I don’t try to make people like me.

I try to love them exactly as they are.

Because this was one of the first times I publicly challenged a system I had once served.

Because this episode marked the moment I chose presence over purity, and people over performance.

Because love, when lived, doesn’t hide.

And I want you to hear where that journey began for me.

Cliff

Episode 006 – The Best Question Ever

Originally recorded: July 16, 2006

Part of the Almost Daily Devotional series

In this episode, I shared one of the most helpful frameworks I had encountered at the time for navigating gray areas in life and faith—a tool I learned from a message by Andy Stanley called Fool Proof.

It centers around a single, reflective question:

“In light of my past experience, my current circumstances, and my future hopes and dreams—what is the wise thing for me to do?”

Back then, this question felt revolutionary to me. It helped me move beyond moral binaries and start considering the impact of my decisions—not just whether something was right or wrong, but whether it was wise, healthy, and aligned.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

I believed that wisdom was a Spirit-led tool for discerning God’s will in gray areas.

That right vs. wrong wasn’t always clear—but wise vs. unwise often was.

I believed the Bible offered timeless principles, and that the Holy Spirit would guide us if we asked better questions.

And I believed this question—framed by Andy Stanley—could truly “fool proof” a life.

I still believe in discernment.

But I now believe that the deepest wisdom comes not from trying to avoid sin, but from remembering our wholeness.

I no longer teach people to question their hearts.

I help people return to their inner knowing—the voice of God within.

I don’t believe wisdom is a narrow path of risk avoidance.

I believe it’s a spacious path of resonance and integrity.

This question still holds power. But today, I also ask:

What choice is most true to who I am becoming?

What feels aligned with Love—not just safe from consequence?

And I trust that when we listen from the inside out…

the next step always becomes clear.

Because this was me, trying to articulate a more honest path.

Because it shows my own process of stepping beyond fear-based obedience.

Because it’s a real moment—offered in trust, not control.

And because the wisdom I offered then still holds value now…

even as the voice behind it has expanded.

May this question serve you.

And may you learn to trust your own sacred discernment.

Cliff

Episode 005 – Why Do We Run?

Originally recorded: July 16, 2006

This episode introduced what I called the Almost Daily Devotional—a space where I shared short, spontaneous reflections that came from the middle of life, not the pages of a plan.

The insight I shared here came while doing the dishes.

Makenna, our youngest at the time (just 16 months old), had done what she often did in those days: she’d wandered into the bathroom, taken something she wasn’t supposed to have, and when confronted—she ran.

Not to hide. Not in rebellion. But with the instincts of a child who knew something felt off, but didn’t yet understand the why behind the boundary.

And it made me ask myself:

Why do we still run?

Why do we move away from Presence when we feel conviction?

Why do we choose momentary gratification over alignment—knowing the outcome will come calling?

In this short devotional, I reflect on that question. Not with guilt. Not with shame. But with curiosity. And compassion.

I also close the episode with a song by Eric Vardaman titled “Seek Your Face.”

If you’ve ever felt yourself reaching for something not quite aligned…

If you’ve ever run, not because you hate the rules, but because you forgot the relationship…

This one’s for you.

I believed that sin was often subtle, but still damaging.

That our disobedience caused grief to God, even if the act itself seemed small.

I believed that much of our misbehavior stemmed not from evil intent, but from immaturity—a childlike lack of understanding about the impact of our choices and the depth of divine love.

I also believed that conviction was evidence of the Spirit’s presence—nudging us toward alignment and deeper relationship with God.

I still believe we sometimes step out of alignment with truth.

But I no longer describe that as “sin” in the traditional sense.

I now understand that what we call disobedience is often just forgetting who we are.

And God is not grieved in the way I once imagined. God is not offended. God is with us—always guiding, always calling, always loving.

Where I once saw discipline, I now see invitation.

Where I once feared the grief I caused God, I now trust the grace that never flinched.

And where I once assumed my spiritual “mistakes” needed correction,

I now know they were just part of the remembering.

Because this moment was real.

Because it reflects how devotion shows up in dishes, diapers, and early Sunday mornings.

Because my daughter taught me something that day.

And because I want you to know… the quietest insights are often the most lasting.

This episode isn’t polished.

But it’s presence.

And presence is what I live by now.

Cliff

Episode 004 – Interview with Dr. Ralph Neighbour: A Vision Beyond the Walls

Originally recorded: July 17, 2006

Back in 2006, I had the honor of interviewing someone who deeply shaped my vision for what church could be—Dr. Ralph W. Neighbour Jr., known globally as a father of the cell church movement.

In this episode, Ralph shares his bold departure from traditional church life in 1969 and the theological discoveries that led him to develop and champion a model of church built on shared life, mutual empowerment, and the living presence of Christ expressed in small communities.

We discuss:

This interview lit something in me. At the time, I was still trying to advocate for the cell church model inside a traditional church system. I hadn’t yet stepped out of the machine—but I was already hearing the gears grinding.

You’ll hear me share my personal story of growing up in religious environments, never feeling the presence of God… until I entered a cell group at age 18 and finally met Christ in community.

At the time of this conversation, I believed the structure of the institutional church was deeply flawed—but not beyond redemption.

I believed that cell church models offered a corrective path back to the early church’s original form, one marked by mutual ministry, shared presence, and Holy Spirit-led gatherings in homes.

I also believed that if pastors and churches could just see what I was seeing, they’d adopt this model and everything would shift.

My focus was still on theology, strategy, and reform—trying to help the “church” get it right.

I no longer believe we need to reform the institution from within. I believe the Church is no longer a structure to restore—it’s a presence to embody.

I now see that what I was reaching for in those years wasn't a different church model. It was an entirely different way of being.

Today, I live what I once tried to structure.

I no longer teach that spiritual empowerment must come through systems.

I trust that God meets people in quiet moments of clarity, in one-on-one conversations, in sacred community that may never meet in a building.

I no longer need the blueprint. I carry the frequency.

And I help others do the same.

Because this conversation was sacred.

And even if my theological language has shifted, the longing underneath it is still the same.

This was me, reaching.

This was me, sensing something truer than the Sunday show.

This was me, naming the hunger for something alive.

Dr. Neighbour’s clarity, boldness, and unwavering commitment to relational ministry confirmed what I already knew in my spirit but didn’t yet have full permission to live.

So I’m leaving this here.

As a window into the questions that shaped me.

As a moment that mattered.

And as a reminder that even before I stepped out of the system…

I was already finding the exits.

And the Way was already finding me.

Cliff

Episode 003 – What Is a Cell Church?

Originally recorded: July 11, 2006

This episode was one of the most passionate teachings I ever recorded during the early years of this podcast. Back then, I was deeply immersed in the world of “cell group ministry”—small, relational communities within the church focused on transformation through life together.

In this episode, I break down what a cell group is, how it differs from traditional models of church, and why I believed (at the time) that this was the most powerful expression of the early New Testament church.

You’ll hear me talk about:

At the time of this recording, I believed the future of the church depended on rediscovering the model of the early Christian community—where people met in homes, shared life, and lived out their faith in smaller, more personal groups.

I believed the cell group model was the most biblically faithful, scalable, and spiritually transformative approach to Christian community.

I believed transformation happened best through accountability, vulnerability, and multiplication of small gatherings. I also believed that the institutional church, as it stood, had drifted from this model and needed reform.

I still believe that transformation is relational. But I no longer believe that it requires a structure to be holy.

Today, I don’t place my trust in models—I place it in presence.

I now understand that what I was reaching for back then wasn’t a better system—it was a truer expression of love, intimacy, and embodiment.

I’ve come to see that what I longed to build through cell groups, I now create through sacred conversations, spiritual coaching, and authentic relationships not bound by institutional frameworks.

Church is not a place. It's not a group size.

It's not even a gathering.

It’s a frequency of being with others in truth and love.

And that’s what I live and breathe now.

Because this episode was honest.

Because I meant every word.

And because it holds a seed that would eventually blossom into something far beyond a church model.

This was one of the earliest moments where I tried to articulate what it felt like to crave something more than Sunday services and program-based faith. I wanted people to know each other. To see each other. To hold each other. And while the form has changed, the heart of that desire has only deepened.

I leave this here not as a blueprint to follow—but as a breadcrumb of where I was… on the path to where I now stand.

And maybe, if you’ve been where I was,

it will meet you exactly where you are.

Cliff

Show Notes: (Updated in May 2025)

This is the only publicly available recording of a sermon I preached from a church pulpit.

It was May 7, 2006. I stood in front of the congregation of a church that—at the time—I was fully invested in. I was part of the leadership. I was co-leading Bible studies, small groups, helping shape ministry initiatives. I took the platform seriously. I studied. I prayed. I prepared. I wanted to honor God with every word I spoke.

In this message, you’ll hear me preach from Luke 9:23–25:

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me…”

I was teaching a sermon series based on the book Choose the Life by Bill Hull—a book that challenged me, irritated me, and eventually helped crack something open inside me. At the time, I believed I was calling people into a more authentic, radical discipleship. And in many ways… I was.

But now, nearly two decades later, I can hear something different in this recording.

I was calling people to wake up.

To go deeper.

To live more fully devoted lives for Christ.

And I believed, deeply, that discipleship meant taking your faith seriously—with all the cost, discomfort, and dedication that required.

I still believe in transformation.

I still believe in following the voice of Love.

I still believe we are called into something sacred.

But today, I no longer believe that means striving, sacrificing, or suffering to prove our devotion.

Back then, I was still living inside a paradigm that saw God’s love as something to respond to through effort—as if obedience was the currency of intimacy.

Now, I see it differently.

I no longer speak of self-denial through the lens of suppression.

I speak of it as release—a shedding of what was never mine in the first place.

I no longer believe God needs me to prove my seriousness.

I believe God delights when I return to joy, wholeness, freedom, and presence.

Obedience, for me, is no longer about following a list.

It’s about resonance.

It’s about alignment.

It’s about listening for the Divine voice within, and living from that place.

Because this sermon is sacred.

It’s not outdated—it’s alive.

It’s a breadcrumb on the path I now walk more fully.

When I listen back, I hear a man who loved God.

Who longed for wholeness.

Who saw the cracks in the system and didn’t yet have the language for what he was sensing.

Who was already becoming.

If you’re on your own journey of faith, deconstruction, or awakening… this episode may stir something in you. Not because you agree with every word. But because you recognize the sound of someone who was already listening.

That’s what this was for me.

A moment of listening.

A call to choose the life… even before I understood what life really meant.

I’m honored to share it with you again today.

And I’m honored by how far I’ve come.

Cliff

Episode 001 – Worship, Doctrine, and the Journey Toward Relationship

Originally recorded: April 23, 2006

This was the very first episode of what was then called Generally Speaking About The Church. It holds the frequency of a new beginning—of a deep desire to finally speak publicly about faith, spiritual formation, and the evolving conversation around what it means to walk with God.

In this episode, I sat down with my friend and worship leader Alex Diaz. What began as a conversation about music and worship quickly became something much more expansive.

We talk about:

The real meaning of worship beyond music and Sunday mornings

Alex’s return to faith after the death of his uncle

What it means to leave a legacy that outlasts your name

Why I pushed back on the Protestant hostility toward Catholicism

The difference between cultural and doctrinal divides

How worship expression changes across countries and denominations

The tension between freedom and fear when showing emotion in church

Why tears, laughter, clapping, stillness, and silence can all be acts of holy worship

Live songs performed by Alex in both Spanish and English

And one powerful line that still echoes:

“What are you doing looking at her when you should be looking at Me?”

Looking back now, I can hear my younger self searching. Hungry. Wanting so much more than performance or production. I didn’t have the words then for what I now know was unfolding. But this was the beginning of the remembering.

Even if my language has shifted, my longing for Truth has never changed.

If you’re someone who’s trying to untangle faith from fear…

If you’ve felt like doctrine mattered more than presence…

If you’ve ever stood in a service wondering if God could feel your heart through the tears or the silence…

This episode is for you.

Welcome to where the journey began.

Cliff

This isn’t a typical introduction episode.
It’s a full remembrance.

Recorded in June 2023—17 years after this podcast began—this foundational episode offers a raw, unfiltered, deeply personal retelling of my lifelong spiritual journey. From Catholic mass to Pentecostal altar calls. From fear-based indoctrination to mystical awakening. From institutional leadership to walking with Christ outside the walls.

If you're the kind of person who likes to go back to the beginning… this is where I recommend you start. But don’t expect polished storytelling or quick summaries. This is soul excavation. This is decades of memory, belief, deconstruction, and grace—spoken out loud in real time.

You’ll hear:

How this podcast was born in 2006 as About The Church

Why the acronym EOTC (Encouraging Others Through Christ) was seeded in me long before I ever had the language for what it would become

The evolution from doctrine to devotion, from shame to sovereignty, from performance to presence

What changed in 2020—and why I now speak of Christ consciousness, multiple paths to God, and freedom from religious fear

How I’ve come to see my entire journey not as contradiction… but as confirmation

This episode isn’t for skimming. It’s for those who want to understand how someone unravels their inherited faith and discovers God more intimately on the other side.

If you want a shortcut, start with Episode 135 (The Beginning of a New Season).
But if you want the whole story, this is it.

Welcome to Encouraging Others Through Christ.

Not a Christian podcast.
A Christ podcast.
Not a sermon.
A transmission.
Not a doctrine.
A devotion.

Let the journey begin.