The Receive Experience

This conversation I have with my friend Sylvia is one I've been wanting to share for a while. She tells the story of how fear and anxiety almost led her and her family into a polygamist offshoot religion... and the quiet moment at a friend's doorway that brought her back. Sylvia has six kids, homeschools, and has learned to hear God in a way that's woven through her ordinary days.

My friend Sylvia is a mother of six, a homeschooling mom, and someone who has been showing up to the Receive Experience call in the mornings. What I love about her story is the honesty of it... she's not pretending she always heard God clearly. She walks us through what it actually felt like to swallow a lie, to feel God's love drain out of her, and then to feel that first little ping of the Spirit returning.

Here's what we explore:

▪️What it feels like to reach "sideways instead of up" to God

▪️The subtle moment of choice she missed before going down a path of fear

▪️How logic helped her reason her way back to a loving God

▪️The story of Ruth and what it taught her about being led

▪️A simple practice for hearing God in the small things (yes, even pancake batter)

▪️How Sylvia partners with God in parenting six kids and homeschooling

▪️Why God's voice never sounds like condemnation, and what to listen for instead

If something in this conversation stirs something in you, I just invite you to sit with it. And if you want to start practicing hearing God for yourself, the Hearing God Challenge is a great place to begin.

🔗 Join The Receive Academy - https://receiveacademy.com/

🔗 Sign up for the next Hearing God Challenge - https://hearinggodchallenge.com/

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

02:31 When I Almost Joined a Polygamist Community

03:34 Reaching Sideways Instead of Up to God

05:25 The Subtle Moment I Felt God's Love Drain Out of Me

08:36 The Dinner and the Sentence That Brought Me Back

10:41 How Logic Helped Me Believe God Is Love Again

14:13 Learning to Partner With God in Parenting

19:16 What the Story of Ruth Taught Me About Being Led

26:35 Hearing God in Sensations, Pancakes, and Everyday Life

33:11 Why Condemnation Isn't God's Voice

I sat down with my friend Johs Wu for what started as a casual catch-up — and somewhere in the middle of it, something clicked for me that I'd been holding onto as a question for a long time. If you watch this one, I'd love for you to guess in the comments what that insight was.Johs Wu is a coach, author, and Identity Exchange practitioner who has spent years helping people discover who God calls them and walk in it. He's also the author of The Golden Wish Junior, a picture book about identity and breaking generational patterns.Expect to hear about what happens when your true identity becomes another thing to perform, how God speaks in far more ways than we think to notice, why the "harvest is plentiful" passage might mean something completely different than what most sermons say, what Peter's denial actually reveals about perfect love, and what it looks like to move from doing this stuff out of fear to doing it out of love — and more...Chapters:00:00 Welcome and Intro to Johs Wu02:10 The Book Johs Wrote About Identity and Generational Patterns07:25 What "Friend First" and "Light Bringer" Actually Mean to Live Out13:19 When Living from Your Identity Becomes Striving28:47 Why God Shows Us Things That Haven't Happened Yet30:04 Peter's Denial and What Perfect Love Actually Looks Like36:00 Asking God What He Means — Not Just What He Said40:19 How Any Good Practice Can Become Performance53:09 Is Intentional Practice a Formula or a Muscle?1:05:43 The Last Word God Put on Johs's HeartIf something in this conversation stirred something in you, sit with it. And if you're ready to go deeper in hearing God for yourself, the links below are a good place to start.📖 Get Johs's book The Golden Wish Junior — https://amzn.to/48wITPA🔗 Join The Receive Academy — https://receiveacademy.com/🔗 Sign up for the next Hearing God Challenge — https://hearinggodchallenge.com/#HearingGod #IdentityInChrist #ListeningPrayer #SpiritualFormation #ReceiveAcademy

I sat down with Adam Cruz to talk about something I think a lot of us feel but rarely name out loud — what happens when your drive to build and create is running on fear instead of freedom. Adam nearly lost everything chasing success, and what he found on the other side changed how he thinks about ambition entirely.Adam Cruz is a coach, entrepreneur, and the founder of Healed to Hustle. He's spent years studying what makes high achievers collapse — and what it looks like to build something meaningful without burning everything else down in the process.Expect to hear about the seven hidden inner life variables that determine whether your ambition sustains or destroys you, why your real motivation is almost never what you think it is, what it actually looks like to hustle from a healed place, the simple morning habit Adam keeps coming back to when everything starts to unravel, and what changes when you start asking "why am I doing this?" as a daily practice rather than a crisis question — and more...Chapters:00:00 Welcome and Intro to Adam Cruz01:30 How Adam Nearly Lost Everything He Built06:00 The Seven Hidden Variables That Determine Your Sustainability11:00 Identity Is Where It All Starts16:00 The Six Levels of Motivation (And Why Most of Us Aren't Honest About Ours)22:00 Recharge Routines vs. Achievement in Disguise24:00 Why Adam Touches the Grass Every Morning28:30 What Work Looks Like When You're Not Trying to Earn Anything37:00 Peace Is the New Profit44:30 What God Wants You to Know Right NowIf something in this conversation stirred something in you, sit with it. And if you're ready to take a look at where your own ambition is coming from, Adam's free assessment is a great place to start.🔗 Take the Healed to Hustle Assessment — https://www.thehealedhustle.com/🔗 Join The Receive Academy — https://receiveacademy.com/🔗 Sign up for the next Hearing God Challenge — https://hearinggodchallenge.com/#HearingGod #HealedToHustle #IdentityInChrist #SpiritualFormation #ReceiveAcademy

I had a conversation with my friend Chris Fox that I didn't record... but the insights were too good not to share. So I pulled the transcript and walked away with 10 things I thought were powerful.This one is about abundance, but probably not the way you're thinking. It's about living from a place of being fully resourced, letting challenges become invitations, and sitting with the question that quietly changes everything: What if my only job today is to be loved?Here's what I share in this video:▪️ How asking "Lord, what do you mean by abundance?" shifts what you actually see▪️ Why every frustration in your life is an invitation in disguise▪️ A simple practice from Baxter Krueger: name five ways God spoke to you today▪️ What happens when you stop looking for the right way to listen and let God out of the box▪️ Why "put it all to death — even the good stuff" might be the most freeing thing the Lord ever says to you▪️ How operating from "I am fully resourced" changes the quality of everything you create▪️ Why safety plus truth is the foundation of any conversation that actually goes somewhereChapters:00:00 Introduction01:17 Insight 1 — What God Actually Means by Abundance05:13 Insight 2 — Every Challenge Is an Invitation in Disguise07:21 Insight 3 — Name Five Ways God Spoke to You Today10:58 Insight 4 — What If There's No Wrong Way?16:53 Insight 5 — Mission Over Rules (The Stagecoach Story)19:54 Insight 6 — Put It All to Death, Even the Good Stuff21:35 Insight 7 — You Are Fully Resourced Right Now25:01 Insight 8 — Your Only Job Is to Be Loved29:25 Insights 9 and 10 — Safety, Truth, and the SandboxIf something landed in this video, I'd just invite you to sit with it for a minute. Ask the Lord which one of these is for you today.🔗 Join The Receive Academy — https://receiveacademy.com/🔗 Sign up for the next Hearing God Challenge — https://hearinggodchallenge.com/

This conversation I have with Dr. Baxter Krueger is one I've been sitting with since we recorded it. Barry and I get to spend over an hour with a theologian who has spent his life recovering what the early church actually believed about the kind of God we have... not a distant, watching God with a disgusted heart, but a Father who brought His Son, His Spirit, and Himself to live inside every human being. If you've ever felt like you're trying to close the gap between you and God, this one is for you.Baxter Krueger is a theologian, author, and speaker whose work has been described by a Greek Orthodox bishop as "straight out of the heart of Athanasius." He studied under JB Torrance in Scotland and has written several books including The Great Dance, Patmos, and The Mediation of Jesus Christ. His life's work is helping people move from the idea of a faraway God they have to appease... into the lived reality of a Father who is already in them and has never let go.Expect to hear the story of Baxter's son and a camouflaged friend flying through the air on a Saturday afternoon, and how that moment became the clearest picture of the gospel Baxter had ever seen, what it means that the average Christian is committed to the "real absence of Jesus" without even knowing it, how reading Athanasius at a library in Mississippi completely changed how Baxter understood God's nature, why there's no such thing as "just me" and what it looks like to see the Holy Spirit in your ordinary humanity, what it means to take sides with Jesus against the way you see God, yourself, your neighbors, and even your enemies, the practical homework Baxter gives almost everyone he meets, and how to ask Jesus your real name and actually receive an answer.Chapters:00:00 Intro00:03:26 The Real Absence of Jesus in Western Christianity00:13:05 The Book That Changed How Baxter Saw God00:28:45 The Commando Story and the Heart of the Gospel00:41:45 Why Jesus Promised Joy, Not Just Religious Duty00:53:04 Taking Sides With Jesus Against the Way You See01:01:28 The Holy Spirit Is Already in Your Ordinary Life01:07:08 Ask Jesus to Show You Five Ways You've Shared His Life01:22:03 What Could Try to Derail This Awakening01:31:56 Ask Jesus What He Calls YouIf something in this conversation stirred something in you, I'd just invite you to sit with it. And if you want to go deeper into actually hearing from God for yourself, I'd love for you to join us in the Hearing God Challenge. The link is below.🔗 Sign up for the next Hearing God Challenge - https://hearinggodchallenge.com/Connect with Baxter Kruger:https://perichoresis.org/

This conversation I have with Tim Shuck is one that kept surprising me. Tim is a facilitator with Novo who has walked thousands of ordinary people into praying for others... and what he shares about the prayers that "don't work" is something I think a lot of people need to hear.Tim Shuck is a guide and facilitator with Novo, an organization equipping ordinary people to hear from God and minister to those around them. He's walked over 10,000 people through cohort-based training in listening prayer and Spirit-led ministry.In this conversation, we get into what happens when prayer doesn't go the way you expected, why God seems to touch hearts far more than he touches bodies, how ordinary people are doing extraordinary things when they just dare to say "may I pray for you?"... and so much more.Here's what we explore:▪️ The "botched" prayer that started a years-long relationship with a salty neighbor named Bob — and what God was actually doing▪️ Why 100% of the time God does something when we pray, even when it's not what we expected▪️ How to create space for people who feel spiritually stuck or disconnected — without shame or pressure▪️ Why God speaks in the middle of ordinary life (even Baby Shark sing-alongs)▪️ The humility muscle you have to grow alongside the listening muscle — or things go sideways▪️ What it looks like to be a "supporting character" who finally realizes God wants to use them just as they areChapters:00:00 The Prayer That Didn't Work03:24 Tim's Work with Novo and Ordinary People05:20 What Happens Every Time We Pray, No Matter What07:36 Two Stories — A Healing and a "Botched" Prayer13:08 How a Failed Prayer Became a Years-Long Relationship16:38 Helping People Who Struggle to Connect With God20:09 Why We Get Stuck in Our Heads — and What to Do Instead23:00 How God Speaks in Everyday Life, Not Just Prayer Time26:27 Growing Humility Alongside the Listening Muscle32:16 You Don't Have to Become Anyone Other Than Who You Already AreIf something in this conversation stirred something in you, I'd love for you to sit with it. And if you want to go deeper, the Hearing God Challenge is a great place to start — link below.🔗 Sign up for the next Hearing God Challenge - https://hearinggodchallenge.com/Connect with Tim at Novo:https://novo.org/

This conversation I have with Jason Clark is one I walked away from changed. Jason hosts the Rethinking God with Tacos podcast and has spent two decades exploring what it looks like to live fully convinced in God's affection... and that comes through in every part of this conversation.Jason Clark is the author of "Prone to Love", "God is Not in Control", and "Leaving and Finding Jesus", and the host of the Rethinking God with Tacos podcast.Expect to learn what it means to grow more confident in God's affection today than yesterday, why love is the long game and how that takes the pressure off everything, how to recognize when you're building a case for separation even when your theology says there isn't any, why Jason says our natural state is righteousness and not depravity, and more...00:00 What It Means to Grow More Confident in His Affection04:08 You Don't Have to Have the Answers08:25 What Does It Actually Look Like in Daily Life?14:09 Building a Case for Separation Even When You Know Better19:02 Jesus Only Did What He Saw the Father Doing26:25 From Servant and Master to Son and Friend28:41 Learning to Trust Your Heart35:33 How to Handle the Fear That Freedom Leads to Sin43:21 What Would Love Do Right Here?50:01 Our Natural State Is Wholeness, Not Depravity52:39 Trust and the Long Game of LoveIf something stirred in you, I'd love for you to sit with it. And if you want to go deeper, the Hearing God Challenge is a good next step.🔗 Sign up for the next Hearing God Challenge - https://hearinggodchallenge.com/Connect with Jason:🔗 Jason Clark's podcast, Rethinking God with Tacos - https://afamilystory.org/rgwt/🔗 Jason Clark's website and books - https://afamilystory.org/

🔗 In this conversation I have with Bill and Sue Frisbee, we get into what it actually looks like to live a life of listening prayer, and what it takes to help others hear God for themselves.Bill and Sue have spent decades doing inner healing and listening prayer ministry in Spokane, WA, trained through Elijah House Ministries.Expect to learn the difference between a "praying word" and a "saying word," why asking "what are you doing?" changes everything, how childhood wounds quietly block us from hearing God, what it looks like when someone hears His voice for the very first time, and more...Chapters:00:00 When Someone Hears God for the First Time02:46 What Bill Found in Tyson's Name Before the Call07:47 How Bill and Sue Entered Into Listening Prayer14:02 Walking with God Through the Day19:27 Is This a Praying Word or a Saying Word?23:07 Don't Ask Why — Ask What God Is Doing29:10 The Lies We Believe That Block Us from Hearing Him36:07 What Blocks People from Connecting with God40:17 Tracing Negative Fruit Back to Its Root43:42 How God Shows Up When People Open Up to HearIf something in this conversation stirred something in you, I'd love for you to sit with it. And if you want to go deeper into learning to hear God's voice for yourself, the links below are a great next step.🔗 Sign up for the next Hearing God Challenge - https://hearinggodchallenge.com/🔗 Connect with Bill & Sue Frisbie - https://www.billandsuefrisbie.com/

This conversation I have with my friend Michael Neely goes somewhere I wasn't expecting. We start talking about hearing God's voice, and it turns into one of the most honest conversations I've had about what's actually in the way of receiving the Father's love... and why most of us don't even realize it's there.Michael Neely is an ordained Presbyterian pastor, spiritual director, and author of Hearing the Heartbeat of God and A Longing for More. He spent 13 years as a jail chaplain and now mentors young men in Bellingham, Washington through inner healing and freedom prayer.Expect to learn what "heart theology" is and why it shapes how you relate to God more than your actual beliefs do, what happened when Michael's dad disowned him at 25 and how it rewired his view of the Father, why forgiveness from your head and forgiveness from your heart are two very different things, what a 7-year-old boy and a gang taught Michael about community, how fear and unforgiveness quietly block us from hearing God, the four different ways we receive from God (and why most people only recognize one), and what it looks like to live from a place of being loved instead of performing for approval.Chapters:00:00 Intro04:10 The Simplicity of Hearing God and Why I Still Wrestle With It10:17 What's Actually Blocking Us From Receiving the Father's Love20:54 When Michael's Dad Disowned Him at 2527:46 Forgiveness From the Heart, Not Just the Head35:08 The Question That Changes How You See God and Yourself39:43 Permission to Fail and Why Jesus Wants You to Risk More47:52 The Four Ways We Receive From God53:55 What 13 Years in Prison Ministry Taught Michael About HealingIf something in this conversation stirred something in you, just sit with it for a moment. And if you want a place where you can practice listening with other people who are on this same journey, I'd love for you to join us.📚 Michael's Books:Hearing The Heartbeat of God - https://amzn.to/4sooUtLA Longing For More - https://amzn.to/4uoTgOP📚 Mentioned in This Episode:Soul Care by Rob Reimer - https://amzn.to/4sfvK4G🔗 Join The Receive Academy - https://receiveacademy.com/🔗 Sign up for the next Hearing God Challenge - https://hearinggodchallenge.com/🔗 Experience our daily listening prayer on The Receive Experience - https://receiveacademy.com/receive_experience

Most Christians believe God used to speak through dreams. John Thomas believes He never stopped and that we've been trained since childhood to ignore it.John spent years dissecting every dream experience in Scripture, and what he found challenges how most of us were raised to think about this. Dreams aren't just random noise from your subconscious. They're one of God's primary languages and once you understand the patterns, you'll start to recognize what He's been saying all along.In this conversation, we cover:0:00 – The moment that changed how John reads Scripture1:56 – Why God speaks from your own life (the cup bearer, the baker, Gideon)5:22 – How we accidentally train our kids to ignore God's voice7:40 – Numbers 12: God's "default" communication method (most people miss this)11:29 – How Joseph's dream saved Jesus' life and what that means for yours15:48 – The difference between God dreams, soul dreams, and enemy dreams16:39 – Why light and color in your dream actually matter29:30 – Why you should never use AI to interpret your dreams30:16 – Common dream symbols decoded: flying, falling, nakedness, houses, cars36:26 – John's nightly practice for intentionally receiving dreams from God42:15 – For those tormented by nightmares: what John wants you to hearWhether you've never had a meaningful dream or you're drowning in them and don't know what they mean — this conversation is for you.Connect with John Thomas: Streams Ministries#HearingGod #ChristianDreams #DreamInterpretation #ReceiveAcademy