The Redeemed Backslider

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Suicidal thoughts at nine years old. A lifetime of not fitting in. A constant stream of intrusive thoughts that sounded like truth. Lori Jo Elliott sits down with me, Kathy Chastain, to tell the kind of redemption story that doesn’t skip the hard parts and doesn’t rush the healing either. We talk about growing up around addiction and emotional neglect, how resentment can calcify into a “wall,” and how God patiently cracks that wall one small piece at a time so we can finally feel, grieve, and heal.

Tune in for the rest of the story!

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Kathy has three books out and they can be found on Amazon or Barnes & Noble online:

"Where Did That Come From?" A children's book

"Redeem California, With God it IS Possible" 

"God of the Impossible: 30-Prayers for the Redemption and Restoration of California"

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Something can be true and still be hard to say out loud: a lot of prodigals don’t stay away because they hate God, they stay away because life got heavy, shame got loud, and coming back feels like you have to fix everything first. I sit down with Joanna Hilton to talk through what backsliding really looked like across her life and what finally helped her return to the freedom and peace she knew she was missing.

Joanna shares a powerful Christian testimony that starts in Catholic school, runs through her parents’ divorce and the chaos that followed, and then moves into teen rebellion that got dangerous fast. We talk about how offense can take root, how isolation makes it worse, and why church community matters more than we sometimes admit. Her story takes us to Houston, a painful relationship marked by drugs and alcohol, and an unexpected turning point through Search for Truth Bible study and the unmistakable pull of Apostolic faith.

Tune in for the rest of the story.

If you'd like to participate in Partners in Prayer, the website is https://www.pipsministry.org

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Partner with us : https://www.theredeemedbackslider.org

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Kathy has three books out and they can be found on Amazon or Barnes & Noble online:

"Where Did That Come From?" A children's book

"Redeem California, With God it IS Possible" 

"God of the Impossible: 30-Prayers for the Redemption and Restoration of California"

Send us Fan Mail

You can memorize Scripture as a kid, know all the standards, and still end up staring over the fence wondering what life looks like on the other side. JJ Calvio did exactly that. He grew up in church, competed in Bible quizzing, and says the Word he hid in his heart became the very thing that kept pulling him back when his choices took him farther than he ever planned to go.
JJ lost both parents to COVID within weeks, and that loss cracked open a deeper emotional life and a renewed hunger for God, even when churches weren’t meeting normally. We unpack why coming back doesn’t have to mean flipping a switch overnight, how Bible quizzing and coaching kids reshaped his faith, and the moment “commitment” became more than just avoiding certain sins.

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Partner with us : https://www.theredeemedbackslider.org

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Kathy has three books out and they can be found on Amazon or Barnes & Noble online:

"Where Did That Come From?" A children's book

"Redeem California, With God it IS Possible" 

"God of the Impossible: 30-Prayers for the Redemption and Restoration of California"

Send us Fan Mail

She believed in God for years, but she could not trust “God’s people” and she had reasons that went deeper than most of us want to admit. My guest, Trish Richardson, shares what it was like growing up with divorce, instability, and a childhood marked by abuse, bullying, and the kind of shame that teaches you to stay silent. If you’ve ever thought, “I love God, but not church,” you’ll hear your own words in her story. 

We talk honestly about church hurt, spiritual wounds, and why trauma can make attachment and relationships feel unsafe. Trish describes crippling anxiety and panic attacks, being misdiagnosed, and turning to substances and opioids to self-medicate. We also unpack the difference between anger and rage, why unprocessed pain leaks out sideways, and how grief and forgiveness are not cute concepts but hard, life-saving work. This conversation sits at the intersection of Christian faith, trauma recovery, mental health, addiction, and real-life redemption.

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Kathy has three books out and they can be found on Amazon or Barnes & Noble online:

"Where Did That Come From?" A children's book

"Redeem California, With God it IS Possible" 

"God of the Impossible: 30-Prayers for the Redemption and Restoration of California"

Send us Fan Mail

She went years believing God had to be a joke. If He was real, why didn’t He stop what happened to her? Our guest, Mary Bobbitt, joins us for a courageous, tender conversation about trauma, identity, and the moment grace finally broke through the walls she built to survive.

Mary shares her story of childhood sexual abuse, rejection, and the way those wounds shaped her view of love, safety, and even her own worth. We talk through how same sex attraction can begin as an emotional longing for connection, why secrecy creates torment, and how “acceptance” can sometimes be a false peace that ends the fight but deepens the bondage. If you care about Christian counseling, trauma recovery, and walking with prodigals, you’ll hear language that’s both honest and hopeful.

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Partner with us : https://www.theredeemedbackslider.org

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Kathy has three books out and they can be found on Amazon or Barnes & Noble online:

"Where Did That Come From?" A children's book

"Redeem California, With God it IS Possible" 

"God of the Impossible: 30-Prayers for the Redemption and Restoration of California"

Send us Fan Mail

If you’ve ever told yourself, “I didn’t mean to walk away,” Amelia Borha’s story will feel uncomfortably familiar and deeply hopeful. Amelia grew up in church, loved God, and built real spiritual roots through youth group, music ministry, camps, and missions trips. But her backsliding didn’t start with a dramatic rebellion. It started with a schedule, a few missed services, and a quiet drift that seemed harmless until it wasn’t.

Tune in for more...

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Partner with us : https://www.theredeemedbackslider.org

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Kathy has three books out and they can be found on Amazon or Barnes & Noble online:

"Where Did That Come From?" A children's book

"Redeem California, With God it IS Possible" 

"God of the Impossible: 30-Prayers for the Redemption and Restoration of California"

Send us Fan Mail

Some people don’t walk away from God because they stop caring. They walk away because disappointment turns into bitterness, and bitterness starts rewriting the story. Pastor Donovan Hill tells the honest version: raised in church, called to preach, then blindsided by a pastor’s scandal that shattered his picture of leadership, faith, and identity.

We trace how that fracture turned into escape, first through music, then through Nashville’s pressure cooker of ambition, ego, and influence. Donovan shares what faith deconstruction felt like from the inside: the slow shedding of standards, then doctrine, then confidence in the Bible itself, and why it can feel like liberation even while peace disappears. If you’ve ever wondered how a “good kid” ends up far from the Father’s house, this conversation puts real words to it.

Tune in for the rest of the story...

To purchase Pastor Hill's book, I am3, click the link- https://a.co/d/0awpzBKT

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Partner with us : https://www.theredeemedbackslider.org

Follow us on Insta & Facebook: The Redeemed Backslider

Kathy has three books out and they can be found on Amazon or Barnes & Noble online:

"Where Did That Come From?" A children's book

"Redeem California, With God it IS Possible" 

"God of the Impossible: 30-Prayers for the Redemption and Restoration of California"

Send us Fan Mail

Intrusive thoughts are one of the most isolating battles because they feel personal, loud, and impossible to explain. When our guest Tommy Deaver tells us hers started around age five, it puts language to what so many adults still cannot name. Tommi was not raised in church, carried anxiety and racing thoughts for years, and learned early how to look “fine” while fighting a war in her mind.

Tune in for the rest of her amazing testimony!

Support the show

Partner with us : https://www.theredeemedbackslider.org

Follow us on Insta & Facebook: The Redeemed Backslider

Kathy has three books out and they can be found on Amazon or Barnes & Noble online:

"Where Did That Come From?" A children's book

"Redeem California, With God it IS Possible" 

"God of the Impossible: 30-Prayers for the Redemption and Restoration of California"

Send us Fan Mail

He grew up in church, but the altar scared him, fitting in felt urgent, and “I’ll come back someday” sounded believable for a long time. Sean McDonald joins me to tell the story behind his return to Jesus and why the biggest obstacles were not just behaviors, but shame, identity, and the lies that keep people out of the building.

We talk about what it’s like being raised by a praying mom while your dad only shows up on the big holidays, and how that tension shapes a kid’s view of God and church. Sean shares how he drifted through the teen years, started drinking and smoking, and convinced himself he needed to get clean before he could walk through the doors again. We dig into how common that “fix yourself first” mindset is for prodigals and why it quietly delays healing.

Tune in for more from Shawn McDonald

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Partner with us : https://www.theredeemedbackslider.org

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Kathy has three books out and they can be found on Amazon or Barnes & Noble online:

"Where Did That Come From?" A children's book

"Redeem California, With God it IS Possible" 

"God of the Impossible: 30-Prayers for the Redemption and Restoration of California"

Send us Fan Mail

You can sit in a church pew and still feel a hundred miles away from God and you can be far away and still feel pulled toward home. I talk with Bishop Jim McPhaill, the pastor who has had a front-row seat to my own back-and-forth journey, about what he has learned across 44 years of ministry and why most people do not “choose rebellion” so much as they slowly drift. He shares a simple, unforgettable picture of the lost sheep, and it lands because it explains how spiritual distance can grow quietly until returning feels impossible. We talk about this subject and more.

Tune in for more of the conversation with Bishop McPhaill

Kathy’s Children’s Book, “Where Did That Cone From” can be found on Amazon or follow this link 👉 https://a.co/d/096QAAUG

Support the show

Partner with us : https://www.theredeemedbackslider.org

Follow us on Insta & Facebook: The Redeemed Backslider

Kathy has three books out and they can be found on Amazon or Barnes & Noble online:

"Where Did That Come From?" A children's book

"Redeem California, With God it IS Possible" 

"God of the Impossible: 30-Prayers for the Redemption and Restoration of California"