Hole in My Heart Podcast

Yup. We are talking about looks. Specifically, clothing. This may seem like too surface-level of a conversation for this podcast, but aren't clothes an expression of who we are? An expression of who God made us to be? We would say, yes. This conversation arose as I (Laurie) was stressing out way too much about what to wear on a stage. I found myself dressing for my audience as opposed to dressing...

If you have ever struggled with pornography addiction or are close to someone who has, please listen to this episode. Licensed mental-health counselor, ordained minister, and author Jay Stringer , helped peel back the layers of understanding for all of us as we heard results of his nearly 4,000-person study on the "whys" behind unwanted sexual behavior. From the research laid out in his incredible...

Do you intrinsically feel the shift in culture over the last ten years or so, but you can't quite name it? Author and pastor Sam Allberry can. ​In addition to being a really great hang, Sam lays out four cultural shifts and seven responses to those shifts on today's episode. This is not one to miss.   //: Highlights: "As I deny self I don't become less me. As I follow Jesus and deny self I become...

If you grew up in the purity movement era of Christianity--where a lot of talk around sexuality was based on 'just say 'no' to sex before marriage'--were you burned by it? Encouraged by it? Our friend, Jason Soucinek , executive director and founder of ProjectSix19 talks us through the benefits and detriments of talking about sexuality with a focus on this type of purity, and helps us consider ano...

Every week, we invite people into our home for food, conversation, and games. It's basically the podcast but in real life. My real life little sister, Angela Bowles, talks about how this works both as a biological sibling and sister in Christ. We also discuss the first time I shared my story with Angela (on her 16th birthday?!), how we get motivated to do difficult things, and PLEASE listen to the...

Do you ever wonder how people can go from living comfortably to saying "yes" to serving people courageously? We do. So we asked some of our friends how they did it. Tom Mollhagen transformed from being born in a brothel in India, to living the American dream, to going back and serving those he left behind. His wife, Dana, went from accepting Jesus on a swing set at five years old, to a successful...

91% of US adults believe the best way to find yourself is by looking within yourself, and 2 out of 5 Americans believe that, when it comes to what happens in the country today, "people of faith" and "religion" are a part of the problems in our country. How can we speak into this environment as believers? Author, speaker, and leader of leaders, Gabe Lyons , helps break down how Christians can be bo...

Do you ever feel like you are a spiritual extremist? Some days you're running so hard and fast toward Jesus, and then you get tired. Or you mess up. Or someone says something to throw you off and you stop. And putz around a bit. And get discouraged. But then you get convicted and you start sprinting until you...don't. This back-forth, sprint-stop can be exhausting. Josh Kelley, author of ' Radical...

Author, poet, and artist, Jackie Hill Perry , is in the house! As we do with every guest, we get at the intersection between the gospel and Jackie's real, right-now life. In addition to Jackie's story of surrender, we discuss how she and her husband stay connected through the storms of life, how to interact with people who want to make her into a deity or the devil, and if she were forced to only...

If you're in need of hearing a story of God's unmistakable reality, you may want to listen here. David Bennett, author of ' A War of Loves ' (Zondervan, Nov. 2018), shares his story and God's obvious breaking into his life. David was a once an atheist LGBT+ activist, and now pours out his life for all people because of God's love in him. The story includes a psychic telling him he was chosen by Je...

Gratitude. Joy. Hope. God has done some healing work on us, and we are sharing a few reasons why and how. We get practical. Also we do a live, old-timey candy taste testing and it's disgusting. Welcome.   //: Highlights: "The reason I didn't leave is the same reason you didn't leave. It's because of God." --Matt Krieg "It's been so hard to crack open my heart and let people in, but it has been so...

Wesley Hill is known as a big brother to many people who have recently come out as celibate LGBT+ Christians. When this conversation was still whispered about in church basements, Wes stepped up to the podium and offered a beautiful picture of living with hope. We talk about this "big brother" status, as well as dive into the new-to-us concept of emotional chastity: giving up the right or demand f...

When I was first making the connection between my brain and attractions toward women, I promised myself that I would never tell my parents. I was terrified. "Would they reject me? Does this mean I am not a Christian? Or I'm the worst-broken Christian?" I'm so thankful that rejection wasn't a part of what I encountered, but it was still rocky. Lots of tears shed on this one with my dad, Randy Hekma...

Loneliness. We all experience it, but not many of us want to talk about it. Let’s start the conversation here (and connect it to the necessity of friendship) with blogger and our new friend, Bridget Eileen! Also, we got new sound effects. Also we play “Explain a Film Plot Badly.” IT FUNNY. Also listen to the end. Producer Steve likes to hide nuggets.   //: Highlights: “I really struggled with the...

When I (Laurie) was at a recent teaching event focused on leaning into LGBT+ conversation with grace and truth, I heard Daniel Mattson , author, speaker, and trombone player, share a story that made my jaw drop. As he taught, I found myself (for the first time) jealous of the way someone suffered. He offers that story here. We also play a ridiculous game where we all practice our acting skills (as...

Remember when people used to write "HAGS" in your yearbook? That's this episode. Plus some more hearty stuff and a T-Rex costume. We talk favorite Goofball Island and Heart of the Matter moments, how has this podcast impacted us from start to finish, and talk future goals for it (please come be our best friends, Chris Pratt and Terry Cruze).   //: Highlight: “There were some days when Matt and I w...

This is our last official full-length podcast for season one of the HIMH podcast! [Insert weeping] We are going to us off into the July break talking about a favorite summer activity: camping. But this episode covers much more than camp life. Our guest, Susan Titus, a shares practical experience of caring for LGBT+ campers as well as ways God has convicted her to love LGBT+ people. (Her methods in...

Friendship questions are some of the top inquiries we receive at HIMH. Is it biblical to have a best friend? At what point does a friendship turn codependent? What can we do about it? We cover it with codependency expert, Kelly Needham --someone who loves friendship so much she's writing a book about it. (And if you recognize that last name, it's because she is married to Christian worship artist,...

We have two incredible stories for you today: One is of Kat LaPrairie, who identifies as transgender and experiences attractions toward women. Kat came out as gay after high school and had serial dating relationships with women for a decade. In those years, Kat woke up many nights "gasping for God." The other story is of a mom, Kathi Bush. Kathi is a clinical therapist and mom to a son who wrestle...

Friends: This is a story you 're not going to want to miss. Our guest, Rachel Gilson, wrote an article for Christianity today that was both award-winning and one of the most-read articles of 2017. When you hear her share her story of the gospel's good news for her here, you'll understand why. The story includes girlfriends, binge drinking, and a stolen copy of ​Mere Christianity. Rachel also share...

Are we all leaders because of social media? How does social media play into the struggle with envy? When does pride get mixed up into that? (And what's the relationship to all of this and self-hatred?) We explore it with pastor, author, and speaker Adam Barr. We also walk with tauntauns, wampas, (and therefore the relationship between Star Wars and Dr. Seuss), and Matt Krieg brings the Goofball Is...

Dr. Preston Sprinkle is in the house! ​ We are hitting the New York Times bestseller with all the hard questions: What is your Enneagram number? What's your Hogwarts house? Where did the phrase "kick the bucket" come from? AFTER ALL OF DAT, we do talk a bit about God's design for gender, premarital sex (what does the Bible say?), and when to speak truth in love.   //: Highlight: "Our leadership ha...

We have a controversial guest on our podcast today: Rosaria Butterfield. Some of you may not know why she might be controversial; some of you may write off this podcast forever as a result of our interview. Give me us minute to explain why we intentionally invited her: The world is increasingly becoming post-Christian. We need other Christians. We need to link arms with other believers (even if we...

Did you or do you feel lost in your 20s? Lonely? ​ Our guest, Drew Boa, asked (and still asks) in his 20s, "What is my purpose? Who are my people? Where do I belong?" Let's dive into that 20-something lostness, and talk about feeling lost in general. Then, let's explore how we can get anchored.   //: Highlights: "[The gospel] is still good news for me today because even though I'm married, I have...

The hearty portion of this week's podcast is all about authenticity and intimacy: How can we be authentic without over-sharing? Can pastors/leaders be authentic? Should they be? How do emotional, physical, and spiritual intimacy relate to marriage and friendship? We are very heavy-handed with the goofball part of the show: In a fight between Eleven from Stranger Things and Hermione Granger from Ha...