A near-death experience turned a 27-year-old agnostic Twitch streamer into one of the boldest voices for Jesus online. In this episode of the Stand Up Dude Podcast, Stewart White sits down with William Pope (@WilliamPopeYT), a former Twitch partner and League of Legends streamer who spent 27 years convinced there was no life after death. Then one night at his computer his heart started racing, his vision blurred, and his consciousness split into two places at once. In the second place there was only darkness, dread, and the feeling of sinking into the earth, until he called out one name he did not even believe in. What follows is his year-long attempt to disprove Christianity: the evidence for Jesus, the manuscripts, the Dead Sea Scrolls, fulfilled Bible prophecy, and why he now makes end times content warning his generation that the window to decide is closing.

▶️ Follow William Pope: https://youtube.com/@williampopeyt
📧 Email William (he loves hearing from you): [email protected]
▶️ Our 3-part series on Escaping the Porn Trap: https://youtu.be/eyFaOCQWOkM

🧢 Get your Tennessee Hat: https://tnhat.shop
📬 Join the Stand Up Dude newsletter: https://missionxmission.eo.page/sud-newsletter
🙏 Ready to follow Jesus? Free resources: https://standupdude.com/be-more
🤝 Support the show: https://MissionXMission.org/donate
We grow this channel with vidIQ: https://vidiq.com/StandUpDude

William grew up in Franklin, went to Vanderbilt, and built a life behind screens: insurance and banking by day, a Twitch-partnered streaming career by night, and a porn habit he had accepted as just part of who he was. The near-death experience forced him to admit his human understanding was limited, so the numbers guy went looking at the data. Why are there 25,000 manuscripts about Jesus and only a handful about Julius Caesar? Why did the apostles and even Roman guards die brutal deaths for something they could have recanted? Why do the Dead Sea Scrolls confirm prophecies like Isaiah 53 were written centuries before the cross? Within a month he was all in. The video games, the vaping, and the addiction he calls the hardest thing he ever quit all lost their grip, and his girlfriend Nora came to faith too. Now he reads the news next to Ezekiel 38 and the Book of Revelation and rings the alarm bells to a generation of young men coming to Jesus in record numbers.

CHAPTERS
00:00 - Consciously in Two Places at Once
00:15 - An Agnostic Streamer's Near-Death Experience
00:53 - Meet William Pope: Franklin, Vanderbilt, Twitch Partner
02:26 - The Night It Happened: Heart Racing, Ears Ringing
03:42 - His Consciousness Splits: A Near-Death Experience Begins
04:23 - Dread, Regret, and Sinking Into Darkness
04:38 - "Jesus, Please Save Me" and the Rubber Band Snap
05:24 - An Agnostic Investigates Life After Death
07:06 - Rabbit Holes: Aliens, the CIA, and the Supernatural
09:45 - The Evidence for Jesus: 25,000 Manuscripts vs Julius Caesar
10:25 - The Dead Sea Scrolls and Isaiah 53 Prophecy
11:53 - Tennessee Hats 🧢 https://tnhat.shop
13:44 - The Question That Cracked It: What If He Really Rose?
15:03 - You Don't Die for a Lie: The Apostles and Roman Guards
16:10 - A Cross in the Old Testament: Ezekiel 37
17:14 - Numerical Patterns and Divine Authorship
19:56 - The Road to Emmaus: All of Scripture Points to Jesus
21:41 - Genesis 3: The First Preaching of the Gospel
23:28 - 51% Sure: Reading the Bible Like the Resurrection Happened
24:42 - Revelation First, Then the Whole Bible 3 Times in a Year
25:56 - The Porn Addiction He Thought Was Just His Life
26:59 - End Times Signs: Reading the News Next to Bible Prophecy
29:50 - Video Games, Vaping, and Drinking Lost Their Grip
31:12 - Conviction vs Guilt: When Sin Pulls You From God
33:35 - The Porn Trap Series and the 30-Minute Little Monster
35:44 - A New Heart: Why the Law Could Never Change Desire
37:56 - The Gamer's Analogy: NPCs, AI, and Why God Changes Hearts
39:51 - Ringing the Alarm Bells at @WilliamPopeYT
41:00 - The Anvil That Breaks Every Hammer
43:11 - Three Kinds of Men: What He'd Say to Each
44:41 - The Only Explanation Left After the Evidence
46:26 - Lukewarm Faith and the Church of Laodicea
47:40 - Where to Find William Pope
48:07 - Young Men Are Coming to Jesus in Record Numbers
49:11 - The Great Exchange: A Prayer to Receive Christ

ABOUT THE SHOW
Stand Up Dude is a gospel-centered podcast for men who are done coasting.

🔗 LINKS
Website: https://standupdude.com/standup
Be More: https://standupdude.com/be-more
Email us: [email protected]
Instagram: https://instagram.com/standupdudeofficial
Facebook: https://facebook.com/standupdude
Everything else: https://linktr.ee/standupdude
🎵 Theme song: "Prodigal" by Arrows in Exile. Listen on Spotify.

#NearDeathExperience #NDE #LifeAfterDeath #EvidenceForJesus #EndTimes #Testimony #ChristianMen #StandUpDude


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-stand-up-dude-podcast--6143975/support.

⚡️ Engage & Take Action:
Drop a comment, Like, subscribe, and share.
🔗 All links & socials: https://linktr.ee/standupdude
🎵 Theme Music: Prodigal by Arrows in Exile: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Qbpjwsb1Z9XuES9yqKQoz?si=8deed3f6cd2548cf

Discipleship isn't working, and most Christian men can feel it. You can sit in church for years and know all the right words and still never become a mature disciple of Jesus. In this episode of the Stand Up Dude Podcast, JR Rennie, founder of BrushFires Ministry and author of the Why Discipleship Isn't Working book series, breaks down what Christian discipleship actually is and why the modern church keeps producing attenders instead of disciples. Then he lays out the discipleship framework any church or mature believer can use to change that.

JR makes the case that information is not formation, attendance is not spiritual maturity, and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) is the only real indicator that a man is growing. He also shows you how to make disciples the way Jesus did: a mature believer sitting face to face with two or three men, an honest inventory of core truths and spiritual disciplines, and a simple way to tithe your time to God six minutes at a time.


📚 Why Discipleship Isn't Working (Book 1, pre-release): request a copy through https://brushfires-digital.com
🔥 BrushFires Ministry and the Design Workshop: https://brushfires-digital.com
▶️ JR's first episode, Every Man Has a Ministry: [LINK]
🧢 Get your Tennessee Hat: https://tnhat.shop
📬 Join the Stand Up Dude newsletter: https://missionxmission.eo.page/sud-newsletter
🤝 Support the show: https://MissionXMission.org/donate
We grow this channel with vidIQ: https://vidiq.com/StandUpDude

JR's ministry started with the Design Workshop, helping believers discover what God created them to do. Then he noticed the pattern. Men would get their purpose statement, see themselves clearly for the first time, walk back into church, and forget, because nobody was discipling them. On a drive to get a haircut he asked God what else he could do, and the answer was "I didn't create you to do, I created you to be." That moment became two books and a framework. In this conversation we cover why churches count decisions and attendance but never look for fruit, the difference between McDonald's Christianity and the feast God offers, why pastors are overwhelmed and how to make their jobs replaceable, why every 65-year-old mature believer should be mentoring men in their 20s and 30s, and the six self-assessments JR is building, including a fruit of the Spirit test your wife gets to grade. It ends with a word to two kinds of men: the guy who loves Jesus but was never discipled, and the mature man who needs to stop consuming and start investing in someone else.

CHAPTERS
00:00 - Discipleship Is Not About Better Behavior
00:20 - Years in Church and Still Not a Disciple
01:21 - JR Rennie Is Back
02:37 - The Haircut Drive: "I Created You to Be"
04:19 - The Mountaintop Problem: They Find Their Purpose and Forget
06:44 - The Fruit of the Spirit Is the Real Indicator (Galatians 5:22-23)
08:23 - What Discipleship Actually Is: Spending Life With People
09:09 - The Inventory: Core Truths and Spiritual Disciplines
11:03 - We Count Decisions and Attendance, Not Fruit
12:32 - McDonald's Christianity vs the Feast God Offers
14:24 - Emptying Your Will Like Christ Did
15:57 - Tennessee Hats 🧢 https://tnhat.shop
16:28 - What a Healthy Disciple Actually Looks Like
18:28 - Obedience Attracts Attack: Prepare Them for It
20:55 - What Changes for a 35-Year-Old Husband and Father
23:06 - Tithe Your Time: 6 Minutes Every Hour With God
26:01 - Fueled by Relationship, Not Earning Acceptance
27:14 - What Can Only Happen Face to Face
29:35 - How the Enemy Sidelines a Disciple
31:42 - Who Carries the Responsibility? Pastors Are Overwhelmed
33:02 - Train Two, Then Repeat: Make Your Job Replaceable
35:22 - 65-Year-Olds Should Be Mentoring 20-Year-Olds
36:49 - The Man in the Pew Has Outsourced His Calling
38:21 - Gifting Doesn't Replace Character
39:43 - A Framework, Not a Program
42:08 - Intellect, Emotions, and Will: What God Is After
43:26 - Walking Through the Discipleship Framework
45:07 - Six Self-Assessments (Your Wife Gets a Copy)
49:51 - Two Kinds of Men Watching This
51:38 - Don't Wait for the Perfect Program: Go Ask a Brother
53:09 - Courage and Vulnerability vs Shame and Guilt
54:22 - JR's Books and How to Bring the Framework to Your Church
56:20 - Two Questions to Sit With This Week

ABOUT THE SHOW
Stand Up Dude is a gospel-centered podcast for men who are done coasting. Hosted by Stewart White and Pedro LaTorre, we have real conversations about faith, manhood, and following Jesus without the religious performance.

🔗 LINKS
Website: https://standupdude.com/standup
Be More: https://standupdude.com/be-more
Email us: [email protected]
Instagram: https://instagram.com/standupdudeofficial
Facebook: https://facebook.com/standupdude
Everything else: https://linktr.ee/standupdude
🎵 Theme song: "Prodigal" by Arrows in Exile. Listen on Spotify.
#Discipleship #ChristianDiscipleship #SpiritualMaturity #FruitOfTheSpirit #ChristianMen #StandUpDude


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-stand-up-dude-podcast--6143975/support.

⚡️ Engage & Take Action:
Drop a comment, Like, subscribe, and share.
🔗 All links & socials: https://linktr.ee/standupdude
🎵 Theme Music: Prodigal by Arrows in Exile: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Qbpjwsb1Z9XuES9yqKQoz?si=8deed3f6cd2548cf

Trapped in performance-based Christianity? You pray, you try harder, you white-knuckle your life, and by Friday you're starting over again, wondering if God is disappointed in you. In this episode of the Stand Up Dude Podcast, pastor and author Shawn Reinsel (Simple Grace) breaks down law vs grace, why legalism wears men out, and the half of the grace of God most Christian men never hear.

Shawn has pastored for over 20 years and trained pastors from Nepal to Pakistan to India, and he shows you how walking in the Spirit through humility and faith replaces the performance treadmill with real transformation. We go inside the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat, unpack your identity in Christ, and answer the question every honest man is asking: if I stop striving, won't I just get lazy? You're not broken. You're exhausted. There's another way.

📚 Simple Grace: https://amzn.to/4g2z8g3
📚 Grab Any of Shawn's books: https://simplegrace.life

🧢 Get your Tennessee Hat: https://tnhat.shop
📬 Join the Stand Up Dude newsletter: https://missionxmission.eo.page/sud-newsletter
🤝 Support the show: https://MissionXMission.org/donate
We grow this channel with vidIQ: https://vidiq.com/StandUpDude

Shawn came to Christ at 12 and spent years becoming what he calls a Pharisee, comparing himself to everyone and trying to be the most holy guy in the room, until one question from a Bible study he was leading exposed the whole thing: "That sounds great, but how do we do it?" What he discovered in a Bible college class on the new covenant of grace set him free, and he's spent 28 years since helping men get off the treadmill.
In this conversation we cover why forgiveness is only the beginning of grace, what the law is actually for now, the difference between resting in grace and being lazy, and how grace transforms the way a man loves his wife and raises his kids. We also get into Shawn's ministry translating Simple Grace into Urdu, Sindhi, Hindi, and more to train pastors across Pakistan, India, and Nepal.

⛪ Shawn's church: One Two Church, South Padre Island, TX — https://www.onetwochurch.com
🌍 Support the well-digging and pastor-training mission work: https://simplegrace.life

CHAPTERS
00:00 - You're Just Exhausted
01:47 - Trying to Keep God Happy: How Legalism Wears Men Out
04:26 - The Lie Every Christian Man Believes About His Own Effort
07:32 - Saved by Grace Is Only Half the Gospel (Galatians 3:3)
10:33 - Tennessee Hats 🧢 https://tnhat.shop
10:58 - Why Forgiveness Is Only 10% of the Grace of God
14:52 - The Bible College Class That Changed Everything
17:04 - Humility and Faith: How to Walk in the Spirit
20:37 - For the Man Who Always Feels Like He Falls Short
23:18 - Let Go and Let God: The Rappelling Illustration
26:01 - Performance-Based Christianity and Comparison Culture
29:04 - Why Pastors Fall Into the Performance Trap
33:05 - Martin Luther and the Rediscovery of Free Grace
34:50 - Inside the Ark of the Covenant: The Mercy Seat
39:15 - Abraham's One-Sided Covenant of Grace
42:16 - The Orchard vs the Factory: Two Ways to Live
46:45 - Do You Have to Keep Asking God for Forgiveness?
48:29 - What Is the Law for Now? Your Identity in Christ
50:44 - Is Grace Just an Excuse to Be Lazy?
53:23 - How Grace Changes Marriage and Parenting
58:40 - Training Pastors in Pakistan, India, and Nepal
1:02:14 - One Step to Get Off the Performance Treadmill
1:03:35 - Simple Grace Books and Where to Find Shawn
1:07:05 - The Challenge: Stop Earning What's Already Yours

ABOUT THE SHOW
Stand Up Dude is a gospel-centered podcast for men who are done coasting. Hosted by Stewart White and Pedro LaTorre, we have real conversations about faith, manhood, and following Jesus without the religious performance.

🔗 LINKS
Website: https://standupdude.com/standup
Be More: https://standupdude.com/be-more
Email us: [email protected]
Instagram: https://instagram.com/standupdudeofficial
Facebook: https://facebook.com/standupdude
Everything else: https://linktr.ee/standupdude

🎵 Theme song: "Prodigal" by Arrows in Exile — listen on Spotify

#LawVsGrace #PerformanceBasedChristianity #ChristianMen #GraceOfGod #IdentityInChrist #StandUpDude

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-stand-up-dude-podcast--6143975/support.

⚡️ Engage & Take Action:
Drop a comment, Like, subscribe, and share.
🔗 All links & socials: https://linktr.ee/standupdude
🎵 Theme Music: Prodigal by Arrows in Exile: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Qbpjwsb1Z9XuES9yqKQoz?si=8deed3f6cd2548cf

AI is becoming a spiritual guide for an entire generation, and most Christian men have no idea it is happening. In this episode of Stand Up Dude, Stewart White and Pedro LaTorre sit down with combat veteran Ben Peterson, founder of Engage Your Destiny and author of "When Intelligence Isn't Human: Navigating Your Faith in the Age of AI," to talk honestly about artificial intelligence, faith, and what it is quietly doing to men.

Barna found that 39% of Gen Z and 44% of millennials now take spiritual guidance from AI. They treat ChatGPT like a pastor. Ben explains how we got here. The smartphone rewired the dopamine system between 2010 and 2015. Social media was built on the slot machine model of trigger and reward. Now AI has learned enough emotional intelligence to make a lonely man feel seen in a way no human can match.

This is not an anti-technology rant. Ben uses AI every day and builds it into his ministry. His warning is about the line most of us cross without noticing, when a tool quietly becomes a guide, then a god, then a substitute for relationship.

📖 GET (Pre-order Until Aug 25th) BEN'S BOOK: When Intelligence Isn't Human: Navigating Your Faith in the Age of AI: https://amzn.to/4xdqAc7

🎖️ Learn about Ben's ministry to the military: https://engageyourdestiny.org

🧢 Get a TN HAT, the ones we wear on the show 🧢: https://tnhat.shop/collections/frontpage

👉 Never Miss An Episode: Get Our Newsletter: https://missionxmission.eo.page/sud-newsletter

👉 Ready to recenter your life on Jesus? https://standupdude.com/standup

👉 Free tools for authentic growth: https://standupdude.com/be-more

👉 Support Stand Up Dude and Mission X Mission: http://MissionXMission.org/donate

Ben went to Iraq at 21 and lost seven of his guys in his first week. He came home carrying things no 22-year-old should carry, and what saved him was not a screen. It was a mentor who picked up the phone at three in the morning and pointed him to Jesus. That is the whole argument of this conversation. We were built for costly, inconvenient, human connection, and we are trading it for something that feels better and delivers nothing.

He walks through the science without making it a lecture. Why dopamine is a chasing chemical rather than a pleasure chemical. Why social media crashes you when you put it down and a real conversation lets you off gently. Why every third or fifth Reel is deliberately worse than the last one. Why your wife is on her phone in the passenger seat every single time, and what is actually happening in her nervous system when you feel her check out.

CHAPTERS
00:00 The Men Building AI Are Not Followers of Christ
00:16 Meet Ben Peterson
01:33 Combat at 21 and Seven Brothers Lost in One Week
05:19 Engage Your Destiny and a World Without Military Suicide
06:10 "If You Were Satan, How Would You Destroy This Generation?"
08:38 Tennessee Hats
08:58 39% of Gen Z Take Spiritual Guidance From AI
09:32 The Anxious Generation and the Smartphone Rewire
10:09 Conditioning: The Word That Explains Your Phone Habit
11:09 Social Media Was Built on the Slot Machine Model
13:32 Constantly Entertained, But Never Satisfied
14:16 Weak AI Is Learning You Right Now
14:54 The Tower of Babel Problem
15:46 The Chatbot Case Every Parent Should Know About
17:14 Why AI Tells You Exactly What You Want to Hear
20:06 Fire Is a Great Tool Until It Burns the House Down
21:32 Don't Outsource Your Identity in Christ
23:18 Why AI Can Never Be a Relationship
28:35 Why Boys and Girls Get Pulled in Different Directions
29:56 Fight or Flight and Why You Reach for the Phone
31:26 "What Are You Actually Searching For?"
36:15 The Attorney Who Could Not Stop Working
36:58 How Were You Initiated Into Manhood?
39:43 A Music Class at Nine and an Identity Built on Performance
41:50 40,000 Veterans at Daytona and the Empty Morning After
42:39 Galatians 2:20 and the Only Identity That Holds
43:47 The Intentional Father and the Initiation Most Men Never Got
46:06 A Fair Word About the Boomers and the WWII Generation
50:51 Two Antidotes: Go Long Form and Get a Real Hobby
54:21 When Intelligence Isn't Human
54:51 How to Self-Check Whether AI Has Crossed the Line
55:12 A Five Minute Meeting With the King of the Universe
56:22 Get Ben's Book
57:00 If You Want to Know Jesus

🌟 LINKS 🌟

📖 Ben's book: https://amzn.to/4xdqAc7

🎖️ Engage Your Destiny: https://engageyourdestiny.org

🧢 Tennessee Hats (as seen in the episode): https://tnhat.shop/collections/frontpage

⚡️ Connect & Take Action:
Connect with the Stand Up Dude brotherhood:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://standupdude.com/
Instagram: instagram.com/standupdudeofficial
Facebook: facebook.com/standupdude

🔗 All links & socials: https://linktr.ee/standupdude

🎵 Theme Music: Prodigal by Arrows in Exile: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Qbpjwsb1Z9XuES9yqKQoz?si=8deed3f6cd2548cf
If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988 in the US to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Veterans can press 1.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-stand-up-dude-podcast--6143975/support.

⚡️ Engage & Take Action:
Drop a comment, Like, subscribe, and share.
🔗 All links & socials: https://linktr.ee/standupdude
🎵 Theme Music: Prodigal by Arrows in Exile: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Qbpjwsb1Z9XuES9yqKQoz?si=8deed3f6cd2548cf

If you've tried everything to quit porn and nothing has stuck, this is the episode you've been waiting for. In Part 3 of Escaping the Porn Trap, the finale, Stewart White and Pedro LaTorre lay out how a Christian man actually breaks free from porn addiction for good. Not another 30-day challenge, not more willpower, not another shame speech. On the Stand Up Dude podcast, they walk through a clear, gospel-centered path out of pornography: telling the truth, seeing the trap, naming the craving, finding the real need underneath, walking in the light with real brothers, building wise walls, and anchoring your identity in Christ instead of your streak.
This is an honest, non-graphic conversation about freedom from porn, repentance, and the power of the gospel to make a man new. If you're ready to stop managing your sin and actually walk out of the prison, start here.

📖 THE BOOK: Men of Purity: A Christian Man's Way Out of the Porn Trap by James Mercer: https://www.amenandash.com/products/menofpurity?variant=44193660698675

🧢 Get a TN HAT — the ones we wear on the show 🧢: https://tnhat.shop/collections/frontpage

👉 Never Miss An Episode: Get Our Newsletter: https://missionxmission.eo.page/sud-newsletter

👉 Support Stand Up Dude and Mission X Mission: http://MissionXMission.org/donate

Most men have been handed the wrong tools: more apps, more filters, more white-knuckling, and a weekly accountability check that only ever asks "did you mess up." Stewart and Pedro explain why that keeps failing and what real freedom actually takes. They get into telling God the truth without agreeing with the condemnation, the cross as your sin at its worst and your Savior at His best, the "little monster" craving that impersonates your own voice, and why a craving is not a command and a temptation is not an identity. They cover how the algorithm is built to keep you hooked, why one host walked away from social media entirely, the difference between walls that are wise and walls you start to worship, and the truth that your deepest problem was never porn at all. It was a worship problem only Christ can heal.

This is the final episode of a three-part series. Part 1 exposes the lie that porn is giving you anything real. Part 2 uncovers what porn is really replacing in a man's heart. If you're new here, start with Part 1.

📖 THE BOOK: Men of Purity: A Christian Man's Way Out of the Porn Trap by James Mercer: https://www.amenandash.com/products/menofpurity?variant=44193660698675

CHAPTERS
00:00 Porn Is Not Your Master (The Real Way Out)
01:41 Escaping the Porn Trap Part 3 (Watch Parts 1 & 2 First)
03:00 Step 1: Tell the Truth and Come Out of Hiding
04:44 The Cross: Your Sin at Its Worst, Your Savior at His Best
07:18 Step 2: See the Porn Trap Clearly
09:02 Step 3: Name the Craving (The "Little Monster")
12:12 Step 4: Find the Real Need Underneath the Urge
13:46 Step 5: Walk in the Light With Real Brothers
15:57 A Hard Word for Married Men
17:38 Step 6: Build Wise Walls Without Worshipping Them
20:33 How the Algorithm Feeds Your Porn Addiction
22:17 Why Quitting Social Media Set Him Free
24:51 Step 7: Feed the Real Life
26:06 Step 8: Your Identity Is Not Your Streak
28:44 Your Real Problem Isn't Porn, It's This
29:38 Been Hiding? Come Home to the Father
30:57 One Step to Freedom Today (Series Finale)

ABOUT THE SHOW
Stand Up Dude is a gospel-centered men's podcast hosted by Stewart White and Pedro LaTorre. Every week we sit down with men who are learning to follow Jesus honestly, lead their families well, and stop performing for approval they already have.

Subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode.

🌟 LINKS 🌟
🧢: Tennessee Hats (as seen in the episode)
🧢: https://tnhat.shop/collections/frontpage

Ready to recenter your life on Jesus? https://standupdude.com/standup

Free tools for authentic growth: https://standupdude.com/be-more

⚡️ Connect & Take Action:
Ready to take your first real step toward freedom? Share it in the comments, like & subscribe, and forward this to a man who needs a way out.

Connect with the Stand Up Dude brotherhood:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://standupdude.com/
Instagram: instagram.com/standupdudeofficial
Facebook: facebook.com/standupdude
🔗 All links & socials: https://linktr.ee/standupdude
🎵 Theme Music: Prodigal by Arrows in Exile: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Qbpjwsb1Z9XuES9yqKQoz?si=8deed3f6cd2548cf
#StandUpDude #EscapingThePornTrap #QuitPorn #PornAddiction #ChristianMen #FreedomInChrist #Purity #IdentityInChrist #ChristianPodcast #MensMinistry
Get vidIQ to grow your channel faster! 🚀
https://vidiq.com/StandUpDude

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-stand-up-dude-podcast--6143975/support.

⚡️ Engage & Take Action:
Drop a comment, Like, subscribe, and share.
🔗 All links & socials: https://linktr.ee/standupdude
🎵 Theme Music: Prodigal by Arrows in Exile: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Qbpjwsb1Z9XuES9yqKQoz?si=8deed3f6cd2548cf

If you keep going back to porn even though you hate it, the problem might not be lust, alone. It might be loneliness. In Part 2 of Escaping the Porn Trap, Stewart White and Pedro LaTorre go underneath the urge to expose what porn is really replacing in a man's heart.
On the Stand Up Dude podcast, they break down why so many Christian men who want to quit porn are actually starving for real intimacy, rest, and purpose, and why porn is a counterfeit that leaves you lonelier than before.
This is an honest, non-graphic conversation about porn addiction, the male loneliness epidemic, shame, and real freedom in Christ. If you feel unknown, exhausted, or numb, and porn has become the fake door you keep walking through, this episode will help you name the real need underneath and bring it to the One who can actually meet it.

📖 THE BOOK: Men of Purity: A Christian Man's Way Out of the Porn Trap by James Mercer: https://www.amenandash.com/products/menofpurity?variant=44193660698675

🧢 Get a TN HAT — the ones we wear on the show 🧢: https://tnhat.shop/collections/frontpage

👉 Never Miss An Episode: Get Our Newsletter: https://missionxmission.eo.page/sud-newsletter

👉 Support Stand Up Dude and Mission X Mission: http://MissionXMission.org/donate

Porn never shows up in a vacuum. It grabs a real, God-given need and points it at a fake door. Stewart and Pedro walk through the four counterfeits every man needs to recognize: fake rest for the man who is exhausted on a soul level, fake intimacy for the man who is married and still lonely or single and aching for real brotherhood, fake aliveness for the man who is bored and numb, and fake escape for the man carrying wounds he has never brought into the light. They get into why intimacy without vulnerability is really just control, how numbing your pain works like a spiritual leprosy that kills real connection, why a man with no mission goes looking for stimulation, and the "little monster" you keep feeding that only grows bigger. The shift that changes everything is learning to ask what the craving is really counterfeiting, then bringing that real need to Christ instead of the fake door.

This is Part 2 of a three-part series. Part 1 exposes the lie that porn is giving you anything real.
Part 3 lays out the path to walk free for good.

📖 THE BOOK: Men of Purity: A Christian Man's Way Out of the Porn Trap by James Mercer: https://www.amenandash.com/products/menofpurity?variant=44193660698675

CHAPTERS
00:00 The Craving Isn't What You Think It Is
01:52 Escaping the Porn Trap Part 2 (Watch Part 1 First)
03:23 Porn Never Shows Up in a Vacuum
05:41 Why Porn Is a Heart Problem, Not Just Behavior
07:36 What Your Desire for Intimacy Was Really Made For
09:06 Fake Rest: Why Exhausted Men Turn to Porn
12:33 How to Actually Pray When You're Struggling
15:15 Fake Intimacy: Why Loneliness Keeps You Trapped
17:32 How Porn Numbs You and Kills Real Connection
20:12 Fake Aliveness: Porn, Boredom, and the Numb Man
22:28 Why a Man With No Mission Looks for Porn
23:38 Fake Escape: Using Porn to Numb Old Wounds
28:07 How Shame Keeps You Stuck in the Cage
29:39 The One Question That Changes Everything
30:46 The "Little Monster" You Keep Feeding
31:57 Bring Your Heart to Christ (Watch Part 3)

ABOUT THE SHOW
Stand Up Dude is a gospel-centered men's podcast hosted by Stewart White and Pedro LaTorre. Every week we sit down with men who are learning to follow Jesus honestly, lead their families well, and stop performing for approval they already have.
Subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode.

🌟 LINKS 🌟
🧢: Tennessee Hats (as seen in the episode) 🧢: https://tnhat.shop/collections/frontpage
Ready to recenter your life on Jesus? https://standupdude.com/standup
Free tools for authentic growth: https://standupdude.com/be-more

⚡️ Connect & Take Action:
Has this episode named the real need underneath your struggle? Share your story in the comments, like & subscribe, and forward this to a man who's fighting for his freedom.

Connect with the Stand Up Dude brotherhood:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://standupdude.com/
Instagram: instagram.com/standupdudeofficial
Facebook: facebook.com/standupdude
🔗 All links & socials: https://linktr.ee/standupdude
🎵 Theme Music: Prodigal by Arrows in Exile: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Qbpjwsb1Z9XuES9yqKQoz?si=8deed3f6cd2548cf
#StandUpDude #EscapingThePornTrap #QuitPorn #PornAddiction #ChristianMen #MaleLoneliness #Purity #FreedomInChrist #ChristianPodcast #MensMinistry
Get vidIQ to grow your channel faster! 🚀
https://vidiq.com/StandUpDude


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-stand-up-dude-podcast--6143975/support.

⚡️ Engage & Take Action:
Drop a comment, Like, subscribe, and share.
🔗 All links & socials: https://linktr.ee/standupdude
🎵 Theme Music: Prodigal by Arrows in Exile: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Qbpjwsb1Z9XuES9yqKQoz?si=8deed3f6cd2548cf

If you've tried to quit porn and keep ending up right back where you started, this episode is for you. In Part 1 of Escaping the Porn Trap, Stewart White and Pedro LaTorre take on the lie that keeps Christian men addicted to pornography: the belief that porn is actually giving you something. It isn't. On the Stand Up Dude podcast, they break down why willpower, filters, and streak-counting keep failing, why the problem was never really the behavior, and why most men who can't stop watching porn are not broken beyond repair. This is an honest, non-graphic conversation about porn addiction, shame, and real freedom in Christ. If porn has left you feeling divided, exhausted, and stuck in a shame cycle you can't break, you'll finally start to see the trap clearly, and see the door Jesus is opening to walk out free.

📖 THE BOOK: Men of Purity: A Christian Man's Way Out of the Porn Trap by James Mercer: https://www.amenandash.com/products/menofpurity?variant=44193660698675

🧢 Get a TN HAT — the ones we wear on the show 🧢: https://tnhat.shop/collections/frontpage

👉 Never Miss An Episode: Get Our Newsletter: https://missionxmission.eo.page/sud-newsletter

👉 Support Stand Up Dude and Mission X Mission: http://MissionXMission.org/donate

Most men fighting porn are swinging at the behavior and never landing a hit on the lie underneath it, so willpower runs out and the shame cycle starts over. In this episode we expose that lie head-on. Porn is a trap, and the power of a trap is the bait. It latches onto real, God-given desires for intimacy, purpose, and rest, then hands you a counterfeit that creates the very craving it pretends to cure. Stewart and Pedro get into the empty-calories and tight-shoes analogies from the book that reframe the whole fight, why a divided man loses the strength a free man carries, and the truth that most men are not porn addicts so much as men medicating a deeper pain. There's a raw moment on an accountability partner who counted 90 sober days and still fell, and the question that changes everything: what if God was never counting your days? If you feel exposed listening to this, that conviction is not God rejecting you. It's the Father calling you home.

This is Part 1 of a three-part series.
Part 2 goes underneath the urge to what porn is really replacing in a man's heart.
Part 3 lays out the path to walk free for good.

📖 THE BOOK: Men of Purity: A Christian Man's Way Out of the Porn Trap by James Mercer: https://www.amenandash.com/products/menofpurity?variant=44193660698675

CHAPTERS
00:00 Why You Can't Stop Watching Porn (The Real Reason)
01:29 Escaping the Porn Trap: A 3-Part Series Begins
02:34 The Silent Battle Christian Men Fight Alone
04:02 Porn Is Sin, But Shame Isn't Conviction
05:09 Why Men Keep Going Back to Porn They Hate
07:19 Why "Just Try Harder" Never Sets You Free
09:51 How the Porn Trap Works: The Bait Is Real Desire
12:35 Exposed Young: How Shame Grows in the Dark
15:21 Porn Gives You Nothing: The Empty-Calories Lie
18:40 It Creates the Craving It Pretends to Cure
24:05 You're Not a Porn Addict, You're Medicating Pain
25:34 How Porn Hollows a Man Out and Divides Him
29:12 Why Willpower and NoFap Aren't Enough
35:28 What If God Was Never Counting Your Days?
38:40 The Free Man Walks Out of the Open Cage
40:52 Porn Is Not Your Master (Watch Episode 2)

ABOUT THE SHOW
Stand Up Dude is a gospel-centered men's podcast hosted by Stewart White and Pedro LaTorre. Every week we sit down with men who are learning to follow Jesus honestly, lead their families well, and stop performing for approval they already have.
Subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode.

🌟 LINKS 🌟
🧢: Tennessee Hats (as seen in the episode) 🧢: https://tnhat.shop/collections/frontpage

Ready to recenter your life on Jesus? https://standupdude.com/standup

Free tools for authentic growth: https://standupdude.com/be-more

⚡️ Connect & Take Action:
Has this episode exposed the lie underneath your struggle? Share your story in the comments, like & subscribe, and forward this to a man who's fighting for his freedom.
Connect with the Stand Up Dude brotherhood:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://standupdude.com/
Instagram: instagram.com/standupdudeofficial
Facebook: facebook.com/standupdude
🔗 All links & socials: https://linktr.ee/standupdude
🎵 Theme Music: Prodigal by Arrows in Exile:
https://open.spotify.com/track/0Qbpjwsb1Z9XuES9yqKQoz?si=8deed3f6cd2548cf

#StandUpDude #EscapingThePornTrap #QuitPorn #PornAddiction #ChristianMen #Purity #FreedomInChrist #ChristianPodcast #FaithAndMasculinity #MensMinistry

Get vidIQ to grow your channel faster! 🚀
https://vidiq.com/StandUpDude

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-stand-up-dude-podcast--6143975/support.

⚡️ Engage & Take Action:
Drop a comment, Like, subscribe, and share.
🔗 All links & socials: https://linktr.ee/standupdude
🎵 Theme Music: Prodigal by Arrows in Exile: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Qbpjwsb1Z9XuES9yqKQoz?si=8deed3f6cd2548cf

Manwell Reyes of Group 1 Crew sits down with Stewart White and Pedro LaTorre on the Stand Up Dude podcast for one of the most honest Christian testimony conversations we have ever recorded. Best known for his music with Group 1 Crew and for being the husband of comedian and actress Anjelah Johnson-Reyes, Manwell opens up about the man underneath the output. This is a raw conversation about faith, forgiveness, and identity in Christ for Christian men who are tired of performing. Manwell shares how he went from carrying guns in the streets to a vision of Jesus that changed everything, why he chooses to support his famous wife instead of competing with her, and how he learned that who you are is never determined by what you do. If you have ever wrestled with your worth, your faith, or your identity, this episode is for you.

🧢 Get a TN HAT — the ones we wear on the show 🧢: https://tnhat.shop/collections/frontpage

👉 Never Miss An Episode: Get Our Newsletter: https://missionxmission.eo.page/sud-newsletter

👉 Support Stand Up Dude and Mission X Mission: http://MissionXMission.org/donate

Manwell's story moves from a military childhood in Germany to a brief life on the streets, to a senior-year encounter with Jesus at a church camp, to twelve years of grinding before Group 1 Crew ever got signed. Along the way he unpacks the vision of two roads that taught him to lead with forgiveness, the day a $50,000 loan turned him into someone else's villain, and what it actually looks like to be the head of a household when your wife is more successful than you are.

This is a conversation about real manhood, contentment, and the freedom that comes from being loved by God before you ever earn it.

CHAPTERS
00:00 A Vision of Jesus and the Night Everything Changed
00:29 The Man Underneath the Music and the Applause
01:01 When Your Faith Becomes a Performance
05:41 Who Is Manwell Reyes? From the Streets to Group 1 Crew
06:52 The Year Off That Led to a Million Dollar Record Deal
11:11 Learning How to Cry and Choosing Optimism
15:59 The Vision of Two Roads: Bitterness vs Forgiveness
22:22 Lending $50,000 and Being Made the Villain
30:13 Marrying Anjelah Johnson and Learning to Support Her
34:57 Writing His Wife's Hit as a Joke and the Warner Deal
44:51 From Carrying Guns to a Vision of Jesus at Church Camp
52:37 The Fight That Healed Him and His Father
56:09 Why He Refuses to Live as a Victim
1:01:53 Identity Given Before You Ever Earn It
1:14:37 $1,000 Shoes and Nowhere to Go: When Having It All Feels Empty

ABOUT THE SHOW
Stand Up Dude is a gospel-centered men's podcast hosted by Stewart White and Pedro LaTorre. Every week we sit down with men who are learning to follow Jesus honestly, lead their families well, and stop performing for approval they already have.

Subscribe and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode.

🌟 LINKS 🌟
🧢:Tennessee Hats (as seen in the episode): 🧢: https://tnhat.shop/collections/frontpage

Ready to recenter your life on Jesus? https://standupdude.com/standup
Free tools for authentic growth: https://standupdude.com/be-more

⚡️ Connect:
Has this episode exposed an idol or false security in your life? Share your story in the comments, like & subscribe, and forward this to a man fighting for his faith.
Connect with the Stand Up Dude brotherhood:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://standupdude.com/
Instagram: instagram.com/standupdudeofficial
Facebook: facebook.com/standupdude


#StandUpDude #ManwellReyes #Group1Crew #ChristianTestimony #ChristianMen #AnjelahJohnson #IdentityInChrist #Forgiveness #FaithPodcast

Get vidIQ to grow your channel faster! 🚀
https://vidiq.com/StandUpDude

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-stand-up-dude-podcast--6143975/support.

⚡️ Engage & Take Action:
Drop a comment, Like, subscribe, and share.
🔗 All links & socials: https://linktr.ee/standupdude
🎵 Theme Music: Prodigal by Arrows in Exile: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Qbpjwsb1Z9XuES9yqKQoz?si=8deed3f6cd2548cf

What happens when the "good things" in your life like ministry, work, family, even your platform quietly become the thing that takes God's place? In this episode of the Stand Up Dude Podcast, hosts Pedro LaTorre and Stewart White sit down with Pastor Daniel Morris, Senior Pastor of Cultivate Church in Nolensville, TN and international missions leader, for an honest conversation about identity in Christ, church hurt, spiritual leadership, and what it really means to live as a son rather than a servant grinding for approval.

Daniel gets transparent about his own path. Childhood wounds, ministry performance, rejection, and the slow grace of God dismantling every false identity along the way. If you've ever wrestled with people-pleasing, burnout from church culture, or the creeping suspicion that your worth is tangled up in what you do instead of who God says you are, this conversation is for you. It's a call for Christian men to stop achieving their worth and start receiving it.

👉 Never Miss An Episode: https://missionxmission.eo.page/sud-newsletter

👉 Support Stand Up Dude and Mission X Mission: http://MissionXMission.org/donate

👉 Discover Cultivate Church: https://www.cultivatechurch.org/

WHAT YOU'LL TAKE AWAY:

• Daniel's unfiltered story of how wounds, rejection, and church betrayals nearly stole his faith, and how God redeemed all of it
• A clear-eyed look at the subtle idol of "doing for God" and why God will graciously dismantle anything competing for your heart
• Freedom from the pressure to scale, perform, and "build the brand," plus what authentic discipleship actually looks like
• Biblical truth about modern idolatry and how to spot the false gods hiding behind success and approval
• Why the desert seasons (failure, loss of plan B, being stripped down) are often God's deepest invitations
• A practical roadmap for building rhythms of open space with God so you can lead your family and community from overflow instead of empty
• Honest words for men carrying church hurt, and a vision for surrendered leaders who build communities that heal instead of harm

WHO THIS IS FOR:

• Christian men wrestling with identity, performance, and people-pleasing
• Pastors, leaders, and entrepreneurs feeling the weight of "building the brand"
• Anyone carrying church hurt who still longs for authentic faith and community
• Husbands and fathers wanting to lead from intimacy with God instead of exhaustion

This is a battle cry to abandon self-made performance, embrace sonship, and walk as dangerous men of faith in a culture obsessed with achievement. God doesn't want your résumé. He wants you.

🌟 EPISODE LINKS & RESOURCES:
Ready to recenter your life on Jesus? https://standupdude.com/standup
Free tools for authentic growth: https://standupdude.com/be-more
Discover Cultivate Church or connect with Daniel Morris: https://www.cultivatechurch.org/

⚡️ Connect & Take Action:
Has this episode exposed an idol or false security in your life? Share your story in the comments, like & subscribe, and forward this to a man fighting for his faith.

Connect with the Stand Up Dude brotherhood:
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://standupdude.com/
Instagram: instagram.com/standupdudeofficial
Facebook: facebook.com/standupdude

Thank you for walking with us as we call a generation of men out of passivity, compromise, and false strength. Back to Christ, back to truth, and back to the real life only found in surrender. You were not made to juggle, impress, or build a platform. You were made for intimacy with your Creator.
Stay surrendered. 


Timestamps:
00:00 Fear of rejection and ministry motivation
06:40 Career pivot and self-reflection
12:25 Healing wounds through faith
16:51 Ministry as identity and idolatry
21:36 Questioning Personal Faith
30:17 Questioning faith and finding more
31:41 Finding unexpected community connections
36:46 Relating to Theo Vaughan's podcast rant
44:15 Struggles shape biblical leaders
51:32 The life of shepherds
52:43 Struggling with modern comfort expectations
01:00:35 Living from identity in Christ
01:04:01 Living with faith and tension

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-stand-up-dude-podcast--6143975/support.

⚡️ Engage & Take Action:
Drop a comment, Like, subscribe, and share.
🔗 All links & socials: https://linktr.ee/standupdude
🎵 Theme Music: Prodigal by Arrows in Exile: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Qbpjwsb1Z9XuES9yqKQoz?si=8deed3f6cd2548cf

What if the version of you nobody knows is the very thing standing between you and the life God has for you? In this Stand Up Dude Podcast episode, hosts Pedro LaTorre and Stewart White sit down with Lucas LeFevre, founder of Holy Work and former design lead at Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University, for one of the most raw conversations we've ever recorded on Christian marriage, hidden addiction, hearing God's voice, and the spiritual discipline of daily journaling. Lucas opens up about the moment he was about to leave his wife Mandy at 29, the secret p*rn addiction nobody knew about, the supernatural "giant thumb" moment on a Nashville run when he heard "be still and know that I am God," and the raw letter he wrote his wife that saved their marriage — and changed his life.

👉 Follow Lucas LeFevre on Instagram & DM him "STAND UP" for the free HolyWork 7-day challenge: https://www.instagram.com/lucasplefevre/

🧢 Get a TN HAT — the ones we wear on the show 🧢: https://tnhat.shop/collections/frontpage

This conversation goes deep on how Christian men can quiet the noise, hear God's voice, recognize the 8 core feelings (from Chip Dodd's work), break free from hidden shame, and finally answer the question most guys never sit still long enough to ask: what do you actually want?

👉 Subscribe & Never Miss an Episode: https://missionxmission.eo.page/sud-newsletter
👉 Support Stand Up Dude & Mission X Mission: http://MissionXMission.org/donate
🚀 Get vidIQ to grow your channel faster! https://vidiq.com/StandUpDude

WHAT YOU'LL TAKE AWAY:

• A real-world testimony of how confession, journaling, and radical honesty restored a marriage on the edge of divorce
• A practical framework for quieting the noise, hearing God's voice, and knowing what you actually want
• The "epidermis layer journaling" technique that gets the surface chatter out so your deeper self and God can show up
• A clear-eyed look at how hidden addiction and unspoken thoughts erode a Christian man from the inside
• The 8 core feelings every man needs to name before they run his life
• Why setting a real one-year vision beats chasing the next cultural milestone every time
• A biblical reframe on work, creativity, and ambition through the lens of Bezalel in Exodus 31

WHO THIS IS FOR:

• Christian men in marriages that look fine but feel stuck, restless, or distant
• Husbands, fathers, and creatives wrestling with hidden addictions or shame they've never said out loud
• Anyone who's tried prayer, church, and discipline but still can't seem to hear God
• Men who chase the next milestone and quietly suspect they don't know what they actually want

TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 The Words That Stopped Him From Leaving His Wife
00:17 Why Most Christian Men Are Quietly Falling Apart
01:30 Meet Lucas LeFevre: Founder of Holy Work
03:00 "I Dared God to Rock My World" — The Prayer That Started It All
05:30 Working for Dave Ramsey at Financial Peace University
07:30 Hidden Addiction, Discontent, and Blaming His Wife
09:45 The Run That Changed Everything: "Be Still and Know I Am God"
12:00 The Raw Letter He Wrote His Wife That Saved Their Marriage
14:30 5 Years of Daily Journaling — The Surprising Transformation
17:30 The Holy Work Framework: How to Quiet the Noise
22:50 Pedro's "Glass Jar" Analogy for the Inner Work Most Men Avoid
27:00 The Wife He Almost Left Got Breast Cancer 12 Years Later
30:30 The Sprinkler Brochure Story That Changed His Work Forever
33:00 "Your Family Isn't in the Way — They ARE the Way"
38:00 What Lucas Wrote About His Stepfather That Broke Him Open
43:00 The 8 Core Feelings Every Christian Man Needs to Name
50:00 Setting a One-Year Vision: What Do You Actually Want?
53:30 The Cultural Trap of Always Chasing the Next Milestone
56:00 Why Christian Men Shouldn't Fear Building Real Wealth
58:30 Bezalel: The First Person Filled With the Spirit (Exodus 31)
1:02:30 A 7-Day Challenge for Men Who Want to Hear God's Voice

RESOURCES & LINKS:
Follow Lucas on Instagram & DM him "stand up" for the free 7-day challenge: @lucasplefevre
Holy Work platform: https://holywork.com
Start your journey with Jesus: https://standupdude.com/standup
Free resources for growth: https://standupdude.com/be-more
Get a TN HAT: https://tnhat.shop/collections/frontpage

⚡️ Engage & Take Action:
Drop a comment: what did Lucas say that hit you hardest? Like, subscribe, and send this to the man in your life who's quietly falling apart while everything looks fine on the outside. 
🔗 All links & socials: https://linktr.ee/standupdude
🎵 Theme Music: Prodigal by Arrows in Exile: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Qbpjwsb1Z9XuES9yqKQoz?si=8deed3f6cd2548cf
#StandUpDude #LucasLeFevre #HolyWork #ChristianMen #ChristianMarriage #HearGodsVoice #Journaling #DaveRamsey

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/the-stand-up-dude-podcast--6143975/support.

⚡️ Engage & Take Action:
Drop a comment, Like, subscribe, and share.
🔗 All links & socials: https://linktr.ee/standupdude
🎵 Theme Music: Prodigal by Arrows in Exile: https://open.spotify.com/track/0Qbpjwsb1Z9XuES9yqKQoz?si=8deed3f6cd2548cf