This is a serious feeling we NEED to address!! + it's okay to feel this way.

Don't be scared of facing this reality if you're in it right now. The only way to push through this is by acknowledging the truth that your heart doesn't want God and then by asking Him to help you through it (as odd as it sounds!!).

Maybe step one is by listening to this podcast episode to see if it's true for you in life right now. I give three helpful tips towards the end to get you out of this funk that so many people experience–yet many don't share.

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Let's connect ☀️

Website and shop: thesojourney.co

Podcast Instagram: @hillcitypodcast

Email: [email protected]

Personal: @gracevangthao

Politics and the election are touchy, polarizing, and sensitive topics in the Christian church. I wasn't planning on uploading this type of podcast episode, but I couldn't shake it off of me this morning.

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Educational Resources:

Psychological analysis video of Trump and his team by Dr. Jordan B. Peterson: https://youtu.be/K8o6n-AVqMw?feature=shared

How long have you been striving for validation? Maybe your whole life, you've been a disappointment to your parents, spouse, friends, and family. You can't help but feel that you'll never be good enough. And when you do try to do and be good, it's never enough for those around you. So you begin wondering if you have a chance to being loved. There might even be this secret longing inside you of wanting to be accepted and loved despite your imperfections, and disappointments, and mess ups. But who would take that chance on you?

Ralph knows this feeling very well. His whole life seemed to be built and positioned towards failure and being a bad guy. A villain. But he's just as human as everyone else is in his game. He wants to be loved and known by others despite his temper tantrums, mean guy looks, and poor reputation. The woman at the well (John 4) also knows this feeling very well too. But both these two lives are changed when someone takes the first step in loving them at their worst and believing in who they could be and not just who they once were.

Can you confidently say that you know God's voice vs. the world's?

Discernment sounds like a big word, but it really means the ability to judge well. According to the Bible, it means “to distinguish or to examine.” As Christians, it is crucial for us to discern the movies we watch, songs we listen to, and posts we read on social media to see if it reflects God and His word. If we aren't careful, we can easily be led into believing the world's lies about our real human problems that lead us astray from Him. Slowly, we become more like the world and influenced by it. This episode focuses on how media can become a negative influence, how it can also be a positive influence in our faith, and gives practical tools in how we can grow in our discernment.

Mulan: My Duty is to My Heart clip

LOTR: Carry You Scene

You can follow @hillcitypodcast on Instagram for more updates.

My Personal IG: __gracevang

Website: thesojourney.co

It's been a LONG minute. But, we're back and better this time. After taking a half year hiatus from content creating, I am feeling so refreshed and ready to tackle new challenges. I dive into what God has been doing in my life during the small break from podcasting and also give new visions and updates for Hill City Podcast.

Cheers to season 2!

It's Christmas week. We spend this week remembering Jesus Christ's meek and hopeful entrance into this dark world.

Disney movie Raya and the Last Dragon encapsulates this idea of how a divine being came in the form of a human. Sisu is a water dragon who is summoned to help the people fight off destructive villains called the Druun's. The only hope for the people in this movie is to be delivered by these magical powerful beings from their own corruption. This episode dives into the themes of an incarnate Savior as Jesus Christ is also the only hope for humans to be saved. His humanity is a bridge for us to be one with God again. His humanity makes it easy for Jesus to truly understand everything we go through. Jesus Christ is fully God and fully human. Sisu is fully dragon and (sorta) fully human. Tune in on this episode to discover the key similarities and differences between the two.

You can follow @hillcitypodcast on Instagram for more updates.

My Personal IG: __gracevang

Website: thesojourney.co

What do you do when you hurt someone? Are you quick to apologize and feel the weight of what you did wrong? Or do you deny it and never apologize?

The star of this episode is the main lead Nam Do San from the Korean drama Start Up. He's not your typical main character lead who is immediately rich and snobby. He's a very ordinary man who doesn't have the best style, has nerdy friends and is very geeky about technology. In this drama, Do San is involved in a big lie with a girl he begins developing feelings for. This lie eventually destroys him with guilt and shame as he wants to make things right in his relationship with Dal Mi. His character shows and illustrates how we should feel when we hurt those we love. It's easy to make excuses or to never apologize. Yet, restoring relationships requires us to be humble enough to recognize, own up and apologize for how we sin against each other and God. Learn what it looks like to feel remorse and sadness for your sin through this episode.

Do San Crying Scene 

Do San Apologizing and Owning Up Scene

You can follow @hillcitypodcast on Instagram for more updates.

My Personal IG: __gracevang

Website: thesojourney.co

A Haunting of Hill House is a popular Netflix series that’s known for its creepiness. Despite it being a horror tv show, it’s actually very emotional with lots of touching messages. Make sure to have some tissue boxes near you if you decide to watch it. Luke Crain is one of the youngest kids from the Crain family who lives in the haunted mansion. His traumatic experience with ghosts and his childhood paves way into his drug addiction. His episode takes viewers on the journey of rehab as he works on recovery. This is an example of what sanctification looks like too. It doesn’t happen overnight like the way we may want it to. But it’s a slow, mundane everyday type of process that is tough and painful. It’s worth it though. Choosing to follow Jesus means learning how to let go some of these habitual sins in our lives so that we can look more like Jesus.

To go more in depth:

Sanctification Article

Justification Article

Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be Book

You can follow @hillcitypodcast on Instagram for more updates.

My Personal IG: __gracevang

Website: thesojourney.co

Stan Lee is co creator of the Marvel Comics. He is known for his phenomenal Marvel legacy and created famous characters like Thor and Arishem. However, he is more than just a creator, writer and cameo in his movies. Stan’s Romanian Jewish background and religious views have been woven throughout all of his work. His characters and storylines reflect his view of an imperfect God and human saviors. So how does this view inform our relationship with God? If we aren’t careful, we can be quick into believing these lies about God and taking matters into our own hands just like what happened in the garden at the very beginning of creation. 

My Genesis 3 Analysis

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My Personal IG: __gracevang

Website: thesojourney.co

Sméagol fell in love with his golden ring. Yet, this ring created him to become a monster. 

The ring influenced his life and became his master. His character is a very relatable one as it is so easy for us to slip into the same thing. We have all sorts of rings or masters in our life—good or bad. They can be draining, addicting and make us feel worse than before. So who are these masters in your life? Are you mastering them or are they mastering you?

Sméagol‘s Conversation Clip

Phone Obssessed Culture Statistics Article

You can follow @hillcitypodcast on Instagram for more updates.

My Personal IG: __gracevang

Website: thesojourney.co