First Love

Episode Description:

In this episode of First Love, Dr. Robyn and Dr. Nathan Kassas journey into the Valley of Berekah—the Valley of Blessing—and uncover a powerful question: Are we looking for relief, or are we ready for release?

Through the story of Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles 20, discover what happens when worship precedes the evidence, praise is offered before circumstances change, and the place that looked like a battlefield becomes the place where blessing is gathered.

Relief says, “Thank God, it's over.”
Release says, “Now I understand what God was producing through it.”

What if the valley was never simply something God wanted to bring you out of—but a place He intended to transform into worship, testimony, and blessing?

The end of the battle does not necessarily mean the completion of God's purpose. Relief celebrates what has ended; release recognizes what has begun.

Support the Show: https://www.torcc.org/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Show Notes: In this episode, Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas close the Valley of Baca by saying coping is being torn while pretending you are not, and connect Jesus' parable of the wheat and the tares to timing. They walk through coping mechanisms including the strong one, controller, performer, spiritualizer, intellectualizer, numb one, rescuer, isolated one, defender, shamed one and martyr, noting Asaph could not reason until he entered God's presence. They add statements on peace, faith and being needed. Their conclusion is the woman in Luke 7:36-50 who washed Jesus' feet with her tears, brought them to the right person, broke agreement with shame, and left forgiven with peace. They stress Jesus did not tell her to stop crying, and that her tears were an expression of love.

Hosts: Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas

Topics Covered: Valley of Baca, Coping Mechanisms, Wheat and Tares, Strong One and Controller, Spiritual Bypassing, Asaph in the Sanctuary, Luke 7:36-50, Tears as Love, Breaking Agreement With Shame

Visit the church: https://www.torcc.org/

-----------------------

About the program: “First Love” with Dr. Robyn and Dr. Nathan Kassas is a life-transforming broadcast that helps believers and seekers reclaim God’s story through healing, truth, and restoration. Each episode unpacks why it works, how it works, and the process to walk it out—making Him real, relevant, and relational, and returning hearts to Jesus as their First Love.

Support the Show: https://www.torcc.org/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Show Notes: In this episode, Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas teach that God collects every tear, drawing on Psalm 56:8 and Revelation 21, where He wipes them away only when close enough. They explain the electrolytes in tears and how suppressed tears become overly salty and inflaming, using salt in Scripture, preservation, covenant and Lot's wife, to show that what was designed to flow turns dangerous when concentrated. They lay out a progression from Psalm 56 to Psalm 84 to Revelation 21, saying God collects what the valley causes us to release. They also play on tears and tears, noting the eyes can reveal where the heart is torn, and mention the woman who washed Jesus' feet. They stress that tears may leave our eyes but never leave His awareness, and that Jesus must come close to wipe them away.

Hosts: Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas

Topics Covered: God Collects Our Tears, Psalm 56:8, Revelation 21, Electrolytes in Tears, Hyperosmolar Tears, Salt in Scripture, Lot's Wife, Tears and Tears, Woman Who Washed Jesus' Feet

Visit the church: https://www.torcc.org/

-----------------------

About the program: “First Love” with Dr. Robyn and Dr. Nathan Kassas is a life-transforming broadcast that helps believers and seekers reclaim God’s story through healing, truth, and restoration. Each episode unpacks why it works, how it works, and the process to walk it out—making Him real, relevant, and relational, and returning hearts to Jesus as their First Love.

Support the Show: https://www.torcc.org/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Show Notes: In this episode, Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas explain that tears communicate a need for connection, using the infant who cries and learns safety from a caregiver. They say suppressing tears carries a biological cost, and link it to the body turning on itself. They address why men struggle to cry, pointing to David, Jeremiah, Lamentations and Jesus weeping over Lazarus, then describe testosterone's effect on the corpus callosum and the need for a healthy male role model, sharing the example of Dr. Nathan's son Levi. They say pain becomes wisdom and wounds become testimony, and from Psalm 84 that provision requires participation: you dig the well and God sends the rain. They also remind men that strength in Psalm 84 is found in the Lord, not in being macho, and that tears need not be explained away by godly reasoning.

Hosts: Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas

Topics Covered: Valley of Baca, Tears and Attachment, Cost of Suppressed Tears, Men and Tears, David and Jeremiah, Jesus Wept, Corpus Callosum, Male Role Models, Dig the Well God Sends Rain

Visit the church: https://www.torcc.org/

-----------------------

About the program: “First Love” with Dr. Robyn and Dr. Nathan Kassas is a life-transforming broadcast that helps believers and seekers reclaim God’s story through healing, truth, and restoration. Each episode unpacks why it works, how it works, and the process to walk it out—making Him real, relevant, and relational, and returning hearts to Jesus as their First Love.

Support the Show: https://www.torcc.org/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Show Notes: In this episode, Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas continue through the Valley of Tears, pointing out that Baca, pain and joy each carry the numerical value 23 in Hebrew, tying it to Nehemiah 8:10 and Psalm 23. They explain that tears are not automatic transformation and contrast a spring with a swamp of self-pity, using the amygdala and prefrontal cortex to show how grief loops. They distinguish rumination from emotional processing, which brings new insight and memory reconsolidation, and mention Pilgrim's Progress. They say healing grief acknowledges pain without claiming it as identity, tears should lead to communication rather than isolation, and over-salty tears can wound the body. They add that crying relieves and brings closure, and that remembering why we cry opens the way for new insight from the Spirit.

Hosts: Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas

Topics Covered: Valley of Baca, Number 23 in Hebrew, Joy of the Lord, Spring Versus Swamp, Self-Pity Tears, Rumination vs. Emotional Processing, Memory Reconsolidation, Pain Without Identity, Tears and Isolation

Visit the church: https://www.torcc.org/

-----------------------

About the program: “First Love” with Dr. Robyn and Dr. Nathan Kassas is a life-transforming broadcast that helps believers and seekers reclaim God’s story through healing, truth, and restoration. Each episode unpacks why it works, how it works, and the process to walk it out—making Him real, relevant, and relational, and returning hearts to Jesus as their First Love.

Support the Show: https://www.torcc.org/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Show Notes: In this episode, Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas move into the Valley of Baca, the Valley of Tears, after recapping the Valley of Elah and the Valley of Achor. They explain that the valley gate offers a map and a timeline rather than a horoscope, and that answers come from the Word, not outside sources. Reading Psalm 84:5-7, they describe Baca as a place to pass through, not build an identity in, and note the balsam tree that weeps sap yet stays fruitful in dry ground. They give the neuroscience of tears as a sign something matters and that the body is processing, then show how tears can turn distress into expression, break fears and unlock years, becoming a spring.

Hosts: Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas

Topics Covered: Valley of Baca, Valley of Tears, Psalm 84, Map Not Horoscope, Balsam Tree, Passing Through Not Staying, Neuroscience of Tears, Distress to Expression, Tears Become a Spring

Visit the church: https://www.torcc.org/

-----------------------

About the program: “First Love” with Dr. Robyn and Dr. Nathan Kassas is a life-transforming broadcast that helps believers and seekers reclaim God’s story through healing, truth, and restoration. Each episode unpacks why it works, how it works, and the process to walk it out—making Him real, relevant, and relational, and returning hearts to Jesus as their First Love.

Support the Show: https://www.torcc.org/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Show Notes: In this episode, Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas continue in the Valley of Achor, explaining that after Jericho, Israel rode on its victory instead of returning to God for a new strategy, and sin in the camp stopped Him from moving. Achor means trouble, and in Hosea God promises to turn it into a door of hope. They say exposure with the safety of covenant leads to redemption, and redemption means revisit. They tie this to burying feelings alive, the nervous system craving completion, and memory reconsolidation, where old memories are updated with new meaning. They say healing is not amnesia, and that God gives feedback by feeding back into us what we never came to Him for.

Hosts: Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas

Topics Covered: Valley of Achor, Trouble and Hidden Sin, Achan and Ai, Door of Hope, Hosea 2:15, Redemption Means Revisit, Memory Reconsolidation, Healing Is Not Amnesia, Feedback From God

Visit the church: https://www.torcc.org/

-----------------------

About the program: “First Love” with Dr. Robyn and Dr. Nathan Kassas is a life-transforming broadcast that helps believers and seekers reclaim God’s story through healing, truth, and restoration. Each episode unpacks why it works, how it works, and the process to walk it out—making Him real, relevant, and relational, and returning hearts to Jesus as their First Love.

Support the Show: https://www.torcc.org/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Show Notes: In this episode, Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas explain that there is one Valley Gate, not many, and define a stronghold as anything with a stronger hold on us than the Spirit of God. They say the Greek word wrestle in Ephesians 6 means hand to hand combat, so spiritual warfare is applied authority, not abracadabra, and we fight from victory. They walk through the armor: helmet of salvation, breastplate of righteousness, belt of truth, shield of faith with the Roman testudo, shoes of the gospel of peace, the sword of the Spirit and God's glory as rear guard. They then introduce the Valley of Achor, Joshua 7 and Hosea 2:15, and the idea that what remains unprocessed remains active.

Hosts: Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas

Topics Covered: Valley Gate, Strongholds, Ephesians 6, Wrestling Hand to Hand, Armor of God, Roman Testudo Formation, Rear Guard of Glory, Valley of Achor, Unprocessed Stays Active

Visit the church: https://www.torcc.org/

-----------------------

About the program: “First Love” with Dr. Robyn and Dr. Nathan Kassas is a life-transforming broadcast that helps believers and seekers reclaim God’s story through healing, truth, and restoration. Each episode unpacks why it works, how it works, and the process to walk it out—making Him real, relevant, and relational, and returning hearts to Jesus as their First Love.

Support the Show: https://www.torcc.org/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Show Notes: In this episode, Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas turn to Saul, the one who failed the valley's stress test, contrasting Joseph's integrity, David's faith and Peter's unfinished formation with Saul's approval addiction. They read 1 Samuel 15, where Saul admits he feared the people, and say Saul had instruction but no preparation, so fear became his default. They contrast Saul the herder of donkeys, driven by fear, with David the shepherd, who leads by voice. They add that Samuel looked on the outward appearance while God looks at the heart. Citing Bruce Lipton and athletic training, they say the brain cannot tell imagined experience from lived experience, so we should rehearse what is lived in to live it out.

Hosts: Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas

Topics Covered: Saul's Valley, Approval Addiction, 1 Samuel 15, Fear of Man, Armor of God, Donkeys Versus Sheep, God Looks at the Heart, Bruce Lipton and the Brain, Lived In and Lived Out

Visit the church: https://www.torcc.org/

-----------------------

About the program: “First Love” with Dr. Robyn and Dr. Nathan Kassas is a life-transforming broadcast that helps believers and seekers reclaim God’s story through healing, truth, and restoration. Each episode unpacks why it works, how it works, and the process to walk it out—making Him real, relevant, and relational, and returning hearts to Jesus as their First Love.

Support the Show: https://www.torcc.org/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Show Notes: In this episode, Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas continue in the Valley of Elah, saying the giant did not install David's faith but retrieved and revealed it. They explain that God is in control and the enemy is only allowed to be a garbage man. They look at Elah in Hebrew, Aleph, Lamed and Hey, as God teaching us to live by grace and the Holy Spirit rather than human strength, in contrast to Saul living by fear. They point to David's five stones as the fivefold ministry, which God chooses to use one at a time, and say they have only one Goliath to face alone. They say Goliath had stature but David had history with God, so remembrance overcomes intimidation and borrowed armor is stripped away.

Hosts: Dr. Robyn Kassas and Dr. Nathan Kassas

Topics Covered: Valley of Elah, Giant Reveals Faith, Hebrew Letters of Elah, Human Strength Versus Covenant, Five Stones, Fivefold Ministry, Remembrance Over Intimidation, Borrowed Armor, History With God

Visit the church: https://www.torcc.org/

-----------------------

About the program: “First Love” with Dr. Robyn and Dr. Nathan Kassas is a life-transforming broadcast that helps believers and seekers reclaim God’s story through healing, truth, and restoration. Each episode unpacks why it works, how it works, and the process to walk it out—making Him real, relevant, and relational, and returning hearts to Jesus as their First Love.

Support the Show: https://www.torcc.org/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.