My Chains are Gone Podcast

Daniel shares his story with us today. He grew up in the church knowing the teachings of the Bible but feared truly giving his life to Jesus because of his relationship with his abusive father. Although his classmates and teammates would have thought Daniel's was successful and happy, depression, anxiety, and addiction to pornography plagued him. In college, God used several new friends to show Daniel grace, love, and compassion. God chipped away at Daniel's fearful heart and has replaced it with a joy filled Gospel loving heart. I hope you are encouraged by Daniel's story.

It is my turn! So many brave people have gone before me, putting on vulnerability and sharing their stories. I faced quite a few challenges - from cold after cold after cold (you can still hear my stuffy nose) - to wrestling with whether my story mattered - to worried if I could share my story without a complete monotone 60 minute boring monologue. God injected me with courage and today you get to hear how God has worked in snapshot moments of my life.

I love being a part of the family of God. I hope you find yourself encouraged today and remember that your story is important too.

Today, Fred shares his story which includes a season of homelessness. He shares about the rays of light and hope that he and his wife experienced living on the street through the kindness of strangers in Anaheim, California. He attributes God's grace for sustaining and bringing them to a new place in life with a home and Christian community.

Listen as he gives a face to the homeless and reminds us of the image bearers of God that our living on the streets in our country.

My Chains are Gone is back! I've had a long break, but I am back and planning to produce an episode a month. Stay tuned!

Today, Rachel shares her story. Rachel is one of my favorite ladies to talk with about theology. She backs up what she believes with scripture and does not shy away from difficult topics. Rachel bravely shares about her experience with same sex attraction, homosexuality, faith, the church, and the faithfulness of God. I hope you are encouraged by the work of God in Rachel's life.

Today Jake shares his story of how God made his spiritual heart alive in spring semester of 2009. He developed a hunger for God's word and desired to walk in God's purposes for him.

Jake was on the track to teach and be involved in church planting when his life got turned upside down. He shares of his fight for survival after experiencing a heart condition which ultimately led to heart failure. He woke up from a coma with a brain injury which radically changed his ability to communicate, move, and perform daily functions.

Jake shares of how his life as a follower of Jesus has changed and how his trust in God has deepened.

It is evident that God is working in and through Jacob. Jake did not receive a set back with his health trauma and current disability, but he received a step forward - towards God's purposes for him.

In this interview, Jake mentions his blog - I have already been encouraged and challenged by some of Jake's writings, admonishing believers in how to love people with disabilities well. If you are interested, check out his website www.fromgroanstoglory.com

I hope you are encouraged by Jake's story and how the Lord has sustained his life physically and spiritually through such trauma.

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

I really enjoyed sitting down with Kelly and hearing her journey of faith. Kelly and her husband watched many of their friends rejoice with positive pregnancy tests while hers remained negative. She shares how God met her in that season of disappointment.

A few years later, they were met with a different trial. Cancer. The daughter they prayed and waited for took a turn for the worse with a diagnosis of Leukemia. God was faithful carrying them and giving them a loving community.

Allie is joyfully on the other side of fighting cancer, and Kelly shares of the gentleness of God as she now processes her experience.

The Bible reminds us that He is strong - always and forever. He is always on the throne. He is always good.

I was encouraged to hear of the ways that God met Kelly and her family in the midst and aftermath of a cancer diagnosis.

He will never let go of us!

I hope you enjoy Kelly's story!

Today we hear from Will, the husband of Rachelle from episode 24. Will described himself as a lazy agnostic. He was just trying to survive everyday in the midst of an abusive relationship.

Will had abandoned God. However, just like the prodigal son, Will experienced the open arms of a loving Father when he called out to him in a place of brokenness.

Listen for the huge turn around that God brought about in his life and how the Lord sustains him now in his daily trials.

This is a story of adoption - eternal spiritual adoption and adoption in the here and now.

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, "Abba, Father."

Today we hear from my friend Melissa living in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Melissa experienced a lot of trauma and brokenness as a young child, including sexual abuse from her great grandfather, an elder in the church. She bravely shares of the deep impact of the abuse. Even in her hardest moments, God never left Melissa's side.

As a teenager, she was taken in by a friend's family which set her on a new track and gave her a vision for foster care and adoption. God is healing and redeeming Melissa and her family for generations to come.

I was so encouraged by the redemptive work in Melissa's life and how God has used her trauma from the past to bring life to those around her.

I hope you are encouraged by Melissa's story too.

What a joy it was to hear from Billy Glosson today!

I am once again thankful for technology, and the ability to interview someone hours away.

Today Billy shares his journey of faith and how God has shaped him and given him a purpose and drive to pursue preaching and church planting in North Carolina.

In some very tender parts of his story, he shares of two crushing experiences in which God faithfully carried him through – a heart-shattering with a fiancé and more recently and raw, a miscarriage with his wife, Hannah. Who else but the Lord could so faithfully bring his people through the crushing dark experiences of life?

You might hear a few name-drops in this episode. I encourage you to check out Ryan's story from episode 13, Bobby in episode 9, Derek in episode 15, and here in a few weeks, Melissa Worley! I love all these interwoven stories of God's great Redemption story!

I hope you are encouraged by Billy's words and God's work in his life.

Kurt loves to share about God's work in his life. God has been with him his whole life even when he was not paying attention.

Kurt experienced a lot of hurt from his father growing up and remained angry and bitter for a long time. God used a fire, the shattering of his marriage, and his daughter's invitation to church to start opening Kurt's eyes to the power of the Gospel in his own life. Kurt is now filled with an inexplicable joy and peace as he trusts in God's work.

I hope you enjoy Kurt's story!