Embracing Brokenness

Many believers know they're saved but still struggle to experience the peace, joy, and freedom Jesus promised. In this episode, Steve Adams sits down with bestselling author Gary Thomas to discuss The Life You Were Reborn to Live . Together they unpack the subtle spiritual lies that keep Christians trapped in fear, striving, isolation, entitlement, and performance-driven faith. If you've e...

What if addiction isn't the real problem? In this powerful and deeply honest conversation, Steve Adams sits down with author, speaker, and storyteller Jon Seidl to discuss his new book, Confessions of a Christian Alcoholic. Jon shares his journey through anxiety, trauma, addiction, recovery, and ultimately deeper intimacy with Christ. Together they explore why addiction often begins long befor...

Richard Blackaby joins Steve Adams for a powerful conversation about spiritual maturity, daily rhythms with God, and what it really means to experience God in everyday life—not just in the extraordinary moments. Drawing from the legacy of the bestselling study Experiencing God and the new release Experiencing God in Everyday Life, Richard shares deeply personal stories about his father, Henry Blac...

What does it really cost to follow Jesus? And what does it cost us when we don’t? In this powerful conversation, Steve Adams welcomes Morgan Snyder to the Embracing Brokenness Podcast for a deep and honest discussion about discipleship, formation, healing, risk, and the slow work of becoming whole in Christ. Morgan reflects on his 26 years in formal relationship with Wild at Heart, his transition...

What happens when artificial intelligence reads a manuscript about intimacy with God… and then creates a podcast explaining it? That’s exactly what happened when one of our endorsers uploaded our upcoming book Embracing the Way into NotebookLM. Within moments, it generated a 20-minute conversation—two voices unpacking the heart of our message with surprising clarity, accuracy, and even emotional t...

What if the greatest danger of artificial intelligence isn’t what it can do—but what it can replace? In this episode of the Embracing Brokenness Podcast, Steve and Colleen Adams explore a growing concern: AI is no longer just a productivity tool—it’s becoming a relational substitute. From AI companions to emotionally intelligent chatbots, we are entering a moment where technology can mimic what on...

Easter reminds us that death is not the end—but it does invite a deeper question: how are we living in the time we’ve been given? In this episode of the Embracing Brokenness Podcast, Steve and Colleen explore “The Dash”—the small line between your birth date and death date that represents your entire life. Through the story of Alfred Nobel, personal experiences with loss, and a powerful reflection...

In Part 2 of our Reclamation series, Steve and Colleen Adams explore what it looks like to reclaim the parts of our story that were shaped by failure, shame, and consequences. In this deeply personal episode, Steve shares the part of his story he rarely tells publicly — the collapse of a successful real estate business in the 1980s, federal fraud charges, and the prison sentence that followed. For...

What does it mean to reclaim the parts of yourself that trauma, shame, and pain taught you to hide? In Part 1 of this two-part conversation on Reclamation , Steve and Colleen explore how Jesus restores what was lost through wounds, false beliefs, and spiritual fragmentation. Colleen shares deeply from her own story of abuse, abandonment, healing, and the reclaiming of the true self through Christ....

Jesus promises a white stone, hidden manna, and a new name known only to the one who receives it. In this episode, Steve & Colleen Adams explore identity, healing, and what it means to “conquer” when competing voices are loud. Colleen shares her story of hearing God call her “Delightful” through trauma and reintegration; Steve shares how God restored his identity as a Warrior in a season of lo...

In this annual conversation, Steve Adams, Colleen Adams, and Michael Kurtz invite listeners to begin the year through consecration , not pressure or performance. Rather than goal-setting, the focus is surrender—offering the year back to God as an act of union with Christ. They explore listening for a word or phrase for the year as an invitation into formation, why God’s work is often cumulative ov...

Spiritual formation doesn’t happen in isolation—but it also doesn’t happen in unsafe spaces. In this episode, Steve and Colleen explore what makes a community truly safe and why safety is foundational to healing, trust, and transformation. This honest conversation parallels themes from their upcoming book Embracing the Way , inviting listeners into a slower, relational vision of walking with Jesus...

In this powerful start to a new year, Steve sits down with longtime friend Rich Timmons—creative visionary, gallery owner, teacher, and author of Come… meet Jesus—for an honest conversation about faith, loss, and redemption. Rich shares how a Good Friday business collapse became the moment he finally cried out to God, and how a “Joseph and Mary” divine appointment helped lead him to Christ. He ref...

It’s the week of December 29, 2025—and Steve & Colleen Adams take time to look back with gratitude on what God has done through Embracing Brokenness Ministries this year, while also sharing a glimpse of what’s ahead in 2026. A central theme rises above everything: learning to wait on the Lord —to live from presence, intimacy, and obedience, not outcomes. Along the way, they share a few powerfu...

When life teaches you to hide, Jesus invites you to heal. Author Clinton Parker joins Steve to share the story behind his new book, Beauty in the Dandelion: Shame Shattered by Grace and Love—from chaotic beginnings and early exposure to darkness, to the slow rescue of grace, safe people, and a Father who delights. We talk practicals: naming shame vs. guilt, breaking isolation, finding “safe” commu...

What does true freedom look like? At age 15, Warner Batty was sentenced to life without parole for taking a life. Fifty years later, he walked out of a Pennsylvania prison—free not just in body, but in spirit. In this raw and redemptive conversation, Steve sits down with Warner to talk about his journey from hopelessness and self-hatred to forgiveness and freedom in Christ. Hear how one man—“the h...

What happens when a pastor’s life falls apart—and God writes a better story? In this raw and redemptive conversation, Steve sits down with Greg Lindsey, author of The Rest of Your Story: The Path to the Christian Life You Want, to talk about failure, forgiveness, and the long road to freedom. Greg shares openly about the affair that nearly ended his marriage and ministry—and how Jesus met him in t...

Steve and Colleen talk with Tom and Karen Friedrichs of Broom Tree Landing, a ministry that offers no-cost retreat, coaching, and spiritual direction to pastors and ministry leaders who are tired, hurting, or on the edge of burnout. They share their own story of pastoral exhaustion, how God accelerated their “retirement dream” into a right now calling, and several powerful provision stories — incl...

Steve sits down with author and leadership coach Preston Poore to discuss his new book How Is Greater Than What. Together they unpack the overlooked “how” of leadership—why character, integrity, and faith matter more than performance. Hear Preston’s vulnerable stories from his years at Coca-Cola, how he learned to lead with heart, and why our identity in Christ defines every “how” in life and lead...

“Helper” in Genesis 2:18 isn’t a downgrade—it’s ezer kenegdo: a powerful ally corresponding to. Steve & Colleen explore God’s original design, how sin distorted it, and how Jesus restores mutuality (Gal 3:28). Practical for marriage, ministry, friendships, and singles—plus a Zechariah 2:5 prayer of protection and presence. Here's the link to prayer of protection: https://embracingbrokennes...

Many of us were taught a gospel that’s true—but incomplete. It became a “ticket to heaven,” divorced from daily life, intimacy, and our purpose in God’s larger story. In this candid conversation, Steve and Colleen unpack how post-Enlightenment thinking, cultural striving, and a transactional faith left them exhausted and spiritually dry—and how Jesus invited them into union, abiding, and the whole...

What if your struggles aren’t just problems to manage—but invitations from God to heal? In this episode of the Embracing Brokenness Podcast, Steve and Colleen dive deep into the difference between sin management and true spiritual healing. Through honest stories—including a boat named Revelation that literally went down in flames—they reveal how wounds, lies, and false identities shape our lives....

So many of us spend our lives hiding our brokenness—pretending everything’s fine while we carry deep wounds that keep us from true freedom. In this honest conversation, Steve and Colleen share their personal journeys of pain, healing, and restoration. They tackle why most people resist admitting they’re broken, what happens if we ignore it, and how Jesus transforms our deepest wounds into places o...

A dark battlefield. Countless dead. One man runs tirelessly, reviving the fallen. The rescued learn to revive others. Hope spreads. But then, someone builds a shelter. Others join. Before long, a castle stands where the battle once raged. From its balcony, people laugh, feast, and celebrate… blind to the dying just beyond the walls. In this robust conversation, Colleen shares a vivid vision that t...

What do you do when evil shows up—and no one’s talking about it? In this honest and Spirit-led debrief, Steve and Colleen Adams reflect on their unforgettable interview with former FBI agent Scott Payne. From neo-Nazi cult rituals to the chilling refusal of a Bible to burn in a satanic bonfire, Scott’s story exposed real spiritual darkness. But it also revealed something else—how far the Church ha...