Kevin Briggins grew up in the inner city of Birmingham, Alabama. He joined the military, drifted far from the Lord in Panama City and Germany, and then felt something leave that he'd never lost before. Years later, he'd read about it in an RC Sproul book: the dark night of the soul. This is Part 1 of a two-part conversation. Kevin takes us through his upbringing, the moment God pulled him back, how he met his wife (and shared the gospel on their second date), and what happened when the ideology of critical theory tore through his church. As the first and only black elder in a multiethnic congregation, Kevin had a front-row seat to something most people only argued about on Twitter — and he couldn't stay quiet. Kevin is a former intelligence analyst, the Managing Director of the Center for Biblical Unity, co-host of Informed Takes and Off Code podcasts, and an elder at his local church in Auburn, AL. 🔗 Center for Biblical Unity — centerforbiblicalunity.com https://substack.com/@kevinbriggins  ⁨@KevinBriggins⁩   ⁨@InformedTakes⁩   ⁨@OffCodePodcast⁩  00:00:00 Intro 00:03:27 First birth — growing up in Birmingham's inner city 00:09:30 Second birth — walking the aisle at 9 years old 00:13:12 Joining the military & drifting from the Lord 00:16:54 The dark night of the soul — feeling like God had left 00:20:01 The means of grace — why community matters 00:29:06 How Kevin met his wife & shared the gospel on date two 00:36:22 Dating advice — intentional dating, marriage, and leading 00:46:27 Ephesians marriage — leading like Christ, not like a CEO 00:52:12 Becoming an elder & the church that tore apart 00:58:29 What critical theory does to the church — a graceless Christianity 01:11:45 Providence — how a collapsed house deal brought Kevin to Auburn 01:14:34 Speaking out — from a Facebook post to a national conversation 01:18:06 Closing — what has God entrusted to Kevin Briggins?