Beauty is important in our faith, because the inward beauty of the heart should be reflected in our lives. Not the fake beauty of white-washed tombs, or the ugliness of hostility and neglect, but the beauty that reflects Christ's love for us.

Sin is crouching at your door, but you don't have to let it in. Sin only rules your life if you make room for it. Addiction is slavery, and that addiction doesn't have to be drugs or alcohol: it could be gossip, validation, the pride that comes from that "secret knowledge" of investing in conspiracy theories.

Referenced in the episode:

Psychosis vs Depression & the Lindsay Clancy Case - Jeremy Boreing

SSRI's at 7 Years Old - Culture Apothecary

The Pastor: A Memoir - Eugene Peterson

God sees us and knows us better than we know ourselves, our good and our bad. Hagar recognized that in the depths of her despair, and God provided for her. When we are in a Jonah or Job season it's comforting to know that even when we feel unseen or misunderstood by the world, God sees us. In His eyes we are beloved children, never strangers, and even in our seasons of stubborn disobedience He loves and provides for us.

The world will lie to you about who you are, what you can do, and what is the the value of your soul. Resisting those lies is hard, but it builds faith and reminds you that your identity, future, and happiness are only found in Christ.

Galatians 5:1 isn't just a patriotic verse for America's 250th anniversary. What does freedom really mean? Your have rights, but are you free to use them? You have a voice, but are you free to speak? Are you bound by worldly desire? Are you bound by fear? Do you have freedom to move and act because you know you supported by a mighty and merciful God? Are you free because you make the choice to follow God, and that clarifies and focuses your life's priorities?

Is the opposite of kind, compassionate and loving actually nice, polite and inoffensive? We need stouthearted men (and women) who are unashamed of the Gospel of Christ.

Referenced in the Episode:

Allie Beth Stuckey interviews David French

Is 95% agreement on an issue enough to belong? Or is that 5% always a dealbreaker? Can you engage with differences with curiosity, constructive debate, and genuine respect? Do we even take the time? Is a lot of tribalism and cancel culture directly related to simply not taking the time to sit and talk with each other, slowly, organically?

If you're Protestant, a woman is supposed to get married. If you're Catholic or Orthodox, a woman can get married or become a nun. The Bible also offered polygamy as an option, one the Mormons famously adopted in their need to care for a large number of widows and orphans, but that is frowned up today. So women are often pressured to marry men that won't be good husbands, or ostracized as a threat. What are the answers offered to the whole generation of women who either through circumstances or cultural pressure find themselves sing and childless in middle age? This an episode with a lot of questions and no answers...

Referenced in the Episode:

A House Full of Females: Plural Marriage and Women's Rights in Early Mormonism, 1835-1870 by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

It's difficult to look at your life through heaven's eyes. What can seem holy, abundant, and good to the world can actually be bad for your soul. The stories of God's love for the outcasts and outsiders, like Esau and Paul, remind to not accept or submit to everything set before us, and that the story isn't always what it seems.

Finding contentment in being ordered under God should be our aim, but there are many households we find ourselves in, both literal and spiritual. Whether we find joy and purpose is using God's blessings in the hierarchies we find ourselves in our choice!

Referenced in the Episode:

Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ by John MacArthur