My wife Sammie joins me to talk about the future about the podcast!

Brian joins the podcast, along with my wife Sam, to discuss Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert's book When Helping Hurts. We talk about how to determine the kind of help a person really needs, community development in other social contexts, and how to find a trustworthy partner in a third-world country.

For the final episode of this series, I had a conversation with Taylor reflecting on everything I've learned from the previous interviews, and hearing why she decided to get confirmed as a Catholic. We also continue our discussion of Catholic beliefs about the Sacraments, salvation, and the Saints.

Father Francis shares about the history and practices of The Benedictine Order, the purpose of the sacraments and how they lead a Christian along the path of holiness, and what kind of authority the Church carries in the lives of believers.

Macklen shares his journey to confirmation as a Catholic, and what he found compelling about their doctrines and teachings. We discuss the true Catholic beliefs about the sacraments, veneration of the saints, confession, and penance, and the role the church plays in the life of a practicing Catholic.

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The first conversation in our 4-part series exploring Catholic doctrine with Luis Lopez, who was raised nominally Catholic, found a relationship with God through Protestantism, and eventually returned to his Catholic roots after exploring the true claims of their doctrine.

Support on patreon: patreon.com/faithbackstage

Leif joins Faith Backstage to discuss various transitions between churches throughout his life, why he and his wife decided to move from San Diego to Los Angeles with the pastor she worked for, how to establish a healthy life groups culture, and the challenges of creating a safe space for worship.

Support on patreon: patreon.com/faithbackstage

Dennis Onen, a pastor and filmmaker from Kampala, Uganda joins me for the 50th episode of the podcast, recorded in front of a live audience at the AFRU Media Summit. Dennis and I discuss the emerging filmmaking industry in Uganda, why he's passionate about storytelling, and how he lead his parents to new faith in Jesus.

Support on patreon: patreon.com/faithbackstage

Join me and co-host Roni Shasamni as we speak with Lesley Sears (LMFT) about the relationship between faith and mental health. We explore why it’s easy to get stuck in a state of victimhood, and how pastors and leaders can differentiate between a person experiencing strong (but healthy) emotions, and someone suffering from a true mental disorder.

Support on Patreon: patreon.com/faithbackstage

Timecodes:
4:15 – Background and Testimony
18:30 – Journey to becoming a Marriage & Family Therapist and Life Coach
20:30 – Examining our personal biases and presuppositions about therapy
26:00 – Is there a difference between “faith-based” therapy and “secular therapy”?
32:15 – How do we discern the difference between true mental disorders and disorders as slang for experiencing strong emotions?
49:30 – Tools for pastors and leaders helping students who are struggling with strong emotions, or a potential mental health challenge
1:00:45 – Why it’s easy to get stuck in a state of victimhood, and how to lead people out

Bill joins Faith Backstage to discuss his role as Minister of Music and Worship, from the process of song selection to pastoring a congregation through worship. We also talk about how a song's authorship effects whether or not it will be used at Grace, the dangers of experiential worship, and how Grace balances relevance and tradition in their style and approach.

Support the podcast on Patreon: patreon.com/faithbackstage