The Light Point

This week I'm sitting down with Anu Eletu- singer, songwriter, producer and owner of the Scary But Beautiful apparel line. Tune in as we talk about his testimony of wrestling with God after heartbreak & discovering his beauty in the midst of pain. We discuss how music and creative outlets can be avenues of healing in the place of intimacy with God and what it looks like to be a faithful with our gifts even if that looks like living in the wild unknown just outside our comfort zone. You don't want to miss this conversation as Anu and I get deep and laugh loud about everything from faith to feelings to figuring life out as young twenty-somethings...

This week we have a very special guest on the podcast - my boyfriend and favorite worship leader, Ohimai Imoukhuede! In this episode, we dive into his flawed and beautiful journey of growing up in church, questioning God as he battled Agnosticism and unbelief, and re-discovering faith in community. Ohimai keeps it real and vulnerable as he shares his story of learning the true meaning of worship and discovering God in the details. Tune in to this episode to listen to his inspiring story.

The Light Point Podcast is back for season 2! This week I’m sitting down with my friend Janet Akisanmi. In this episode, Janet opens up about discovering identity outside of a career, overcoming fear to find a deeper level of freedom in Christ, and becoming the woman she was always meant be. 

Welcome season 2 of The Light Point Podcast. Last season I told my story but in this season I'm passing the mic. The Light Point Podcast is designed to use storytelling as a medium for sharing the truth of the gospel. We tell people that they matter, that their stories matter but then we don’t act like it because we don’t ask, we don’t tell. We assume that people are only worth hearing when they’ve proved their greatness by accomplishing something that society deems great.   What if we treated ourselves and other like our stories matter like there is value in the stories that God has uniquely given each of us. I think that it’s important for us to listen to each other and learn from each other, be inspired by each others “ordinary” testimonies. By the little miracles all around us.   I believe that every person carries light and the way that we impact the world is by shining. This looks like loving and serving others but it also looks like telling the truth of what we went through and where we are. It looks like speaking the truth of the journey we’re on so that others can feel heard and seen.   There’s something that happens when the light in me reaches out and touches the light in you. There’s a way we each shine bright and illuminate the glory of God on this earth. This is the mission of the light point podcast. That people may see our light and give glory to our father in heaven.

Your story matters. It matters to God and it matters to your purpose for being on this earth. What happened to you? What did you do? Who are you? The answers to these questions are significant because without the courage to accept and tell  your own story, the light of God cannot shine like it should through your life. You see the light exposes the truth of where we are and who God is. You can look at the light and see God, but it is only when you stand in the light that you are able to see yourself. It is only when you come into that place of intimacy with God that you can have an accurate view of who you are. The good, bad and ugly of your actions and thoughts are exposed. It feels extremely vulnerable but it is also extremely freeing because we don’t have to hide anymore. The thing that we were most afraid to confront about ourselves is staring us in the face and yet grace is right there too. you are undeniably loved, unexplainably cherished and valued despite what you may have gone through and how it changed you, YOU. ARE. LOVED.

When you constantly use your faith- you practice the art of trusting in God- no matter what happens turning to God instead of turning away. You operate on the assumption that what he said is true, that he really does love you and care about you as much as he said, that he really is as good as he said, that his word is the truth that everything else should be compared to. When you take the Gospel into the center of your heart as Tim Keller would say and allow it to drive how you see yourself, God and the world around you then you allow yourself to develop a heart posture that is surrendered to the work the holy spirit begins doing in you the moment you give your life to Christ. This is the when you begin to know Gods love not just with your head but with your heart and you receive it as beautiful.

This process doesn’t happen over night but I am a living testimony that it works and that intimate relationship with God will literally transform you from the inside out. Giving your life to Christ saves your soul but doing life with Christ changes your reality on this side of eternity. It transforms your identity so you begin to see yourself how God sees you. It allows you to accomplish great things while still maintaining good character and humility because you know all the glory belongs to God. it gives you an unshakable joy despite all the craziness happening in the world because you know that we all await a future glory but God is still working in the lives of people on earth

There is something that happens when we allow the light of the Holy Spirit within us to come out of us and define the reality that we live in. we were created for freedom- that’s the first thing that God told Adam in the garden of eden- “you are free to eat from any fruit in the garden…” he didn’t start with what he couldn’t do, he started with what he could but then he gave boundaries to the freedom because freedom without guidelines always leads to destruction. God wants us to be free to live the life of abundance and joy and impact that he has called us to but we have to step out of darkness- the absence of God, and into the light the full inescapable presence of God where we don’t have to be perfect but we are consistently seeking the heart of the father and using his abundant grace to live free from the shackles of shame and fear that seek to bind the children of God and prevent them from walking out their destiny in Christ.

Uprooting is the uncomfortable process of removing all the problematic people, patterns, practices, that are at the core of our hearts due to trauma, repeated sin, or simply miseducation. It doesn't automatically happen when you believe in Jesus. It is a deliberate and intentional process that you must choose. God has helped me to go through this process and I'm sharing it with you because uprooting is the key to freedom. It is necessary for us to walk in our God Given destiny.   You can plant all the good seeds you want to and the tree might even grow but if there are rotten roots that have already corrupted the soil, there NEEDS to be an uprooting. There are seeds of false principles, beliefs, and ideas that society, our upbringing, or our bad decisions have planted in our hearts before we found Christ. The devil is betting on the lazy Christian who will settle for salvation when they were destined for freedom. Salvation comes by grace and grace alone but healing and freedom require you to work out that salvation with fear and trembling so that you can uproot those toxic ideas that lie at the foundation of your faith.

So what happens next? What do you do after you can finally see the full extent of your brokenness and the fundamentally sinful mindsets at the root of so many issues in your life? How do you find freedom? In Chapter 5 I discuss what it looks like to get to the point of no return where you discover that although faith is free, freedom is something you fight for daily by killing your idols and focusing on the beauty of the Gospel.