The confidence worth keeping is not the kind that avoids hard seasons, but the kind that is forged in them.

In week two of The Preaching Swap, Jady Griffin looks at why the trouble we would never choose is often the very place God is preparing us, and why holding on to who he says we are is what carries us through. Drawing on the years David spent in the field long before he ever faced Goliath, it is a reminder that no pain is wasted in a heart surrendered to Jesus, and that who you become when no one is watching is exactly who you will need to be when everyone is watching.

Life was always meant to be bigger than existence. In this episode, our old friend Connor Grim joins Doug and Ethan to talk about calling, God's timing, and the long road that led his family to Austin to plant Cornerstone Austin. After more than a decade at Red Rocks in Denver, Connor shares the story of an eight-year wait, what it costs to leave a life you love to build something new, and the quiet courage it takes to catch a wave God is already making.

Learn more about Connor and Erin's new church plant, Cornerstone Austin, a people of faith, a voice of hope, known by love.

Cornerstone Austin: https://cornerstoneaustin.church

Cornerstone on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cornerstone.austin

Nothing we give to Jesus is ever wasted. In week one of our two-week Preacher Swap series, guest pastor Tory Mayo of The Well opens the story of the woman who broke an alabaster jar of expensive perfume over Jesus, an act his own disciples called a waste and Jesus called beautiful. It is an honest look at whether going all in on Jesus is really worth it, and at the Savior who poured out everything for us first.

Hope is something we build, not just something we wait to feel.

In this episode, Riley Fuller returns to Afterthoughts to talk about the science of hope. After sixteen years leading Humanity and Hope in rural Honduras, he shares what he has learned about how hope is built, and why the smallest step forward matters more than we think.

You do not have to reach the goal to begin.

Learn more about Riley's work at Humanity and Hope United, the nonprofit building hope alongside rural communities in Honduras.

Humanity and Hope United: https://www.humanityandhope.org

Riley's story: https://www.humanityandhope.org/blog/board-bio-riley-fuller-president

Generous Coffee: https://generouscoffee.com

The science of hope (OU Hope Research Center): https://www.ou.edu/tulsa/hope

Marriage was never meant to make life easier. It was meant to make us better.

In this message from Summer Lovin', Ethan Matott looks at why we still choose relationship in a culture that calls it optional, and what changes when love becomes a choice we make rather than a feeling we wait for. Whether you are single, dating, engaged, or married, the invitation is the same. Try it God's way.

Faith is often tested not when life falls apart, but when our understanding reaches its limits.

The conversation also explores dating and relationships in young adulthood, the challenges facing Gen Z, and why so many young people are searching for something real in a culture full of competing voices. Together, Ryan, Ethan, and Sam reflect on doubt, discipleship, and the spiritual hunger emerging across Austin and beyond.

In this episode, Sam Lee shares how studying psychology led him to question everything he believed about God. What began as an intellectual struggle eventually became a personal search for truth, purpose, and faith that was truly his own.

This Father's Day, pastor Shawn Johnson sits down with counselor Dr. Harv Powers for an honest conversation about fatherhood, the families we came from, and the parents we are becoming. They talk about the dads who shaped us, the wounds some of us carried into adulthood, and how God redeems even the hardest family stories.

Whatever this weekend stirs in you, the joy and the ache, you are not alone. There is a perfect Father whose love for you never runs out.

Dating has never been more casual, and lasting commitment has never felt more out of reach.

In this episode we sit down with youth pastor Ethan Moroles and youth summer intern Lawson Lombard to ask an honest question: where are dating and marriage actually headed for the next generation? We talk about the frustration so many single women feel and the apathy so many single men have settled into, the pressure to have life figured out before you commit, the strange new world of the talking stage and the ick, and why all of it gets harder when a relationship starts on a screen instead of face to face.

The people who are hardest to love are often the ones Jesus moved toward first.In week 3 of Summer Lovin', Ryan Wekenman teaches through the story of Matthew the tax collector, a man who knew he was tough to love and whom Jesus welcomed anyway. It is an honest look at loving difficult people, the reality of church hurt, and what it means to be imperfect people pursuing a perfect God. There is a seat at the table for the ones who feel like they have lost theirs, including you.

The pursuit of more is often what keeps us from the relationships we actually want.In this episode the guys conversation turns toward modern relationships, loneliness, dopamine, scrolling, dating culture, and why commitment feels harder than ever. They explore the difference between chasing excitement and building connection, how technology shapes our expectations, and why boredom may be more important than we realize.